Strange Gameplay for a Ninja
by Champygnakx
Summary: What if a random academy student got The Gamer ability ? "That's it. I played too much RPG videogames and i became crazy. How else can I explain this blue rectangle in front of my head ?" OC Pov. Currently on hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello everybody! I'm Champygnakx, the author of this fanfiction! This is my version of The Gamer/Naruto crossover, it's been a while since I wanted to do this. Please be lenient while you read this, this is my first fanfiction. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimers: I don't own Naruto, and I don't own The Gamer (Manhwa).**

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Games.

I love them. I invest all my free time in games. Each time I return from the academy, I go to the TV, turn on the game console, and I play. Most of the time it's RPG. You know, Role Playing Games. In RPGs, you can do anything, play like a fucking badass warrior, or a mysterious wizard, or a dark assassin, or a… ninja. My dream is to become one of those. Pretty silly, huh?

That's why I go to the academy. I want to become a ninja, like my father. He's a chunin specialist in fire jutsu, and when he demonstrated one of those, I knew that I had found what to do in my life.

I want to learn how to breathe fire, to walk on water, all that cool stuff!

But... it's not going well. The graduation exam is in two weeks, and I can barely do the jutsu required to pass. It's not that I'm bad at it, it's just… I don't train, nor study, in my free time : I'm too busy playing games. And I have no friends: too busy playing games… Every time, it's always : "Tomorrow… Tomorrow, I'll start train seriously...", and every time I end up continuing playing. Why can't I be a genius and learn everything in no time?

However, today is different. Because when I woke up to go to the academy, I found a blue rectangle floating in front of my head.

 **You have slept in your bed. HP, CP & Mp fully restored and all status effects removed.**

Ugh… I'm really going crazy, huh? I spent way to much time on those games.

I slowly waved away the box that my sick mind had created and sat up on my bed. Clearly I'd been up far too late beating the last boss on my latest RPG…

I went to the bathroom, splashed some water on my face and looked at the mirror. Here I am: Kurota Farazuke, a twelve year old boy with brown, spiky hair down to the shoulders, green eyes, average face, average height, really, really white skin, and very thin, almost skinny. Now, there's something wrong with me today… First: I don't have the usual bags of shadows under my eyes. Huh. Whatever. Second: I don't feel tired. Nor sleepy. And last but not least: those words above my head!

 **The Gamer**

 **Lv1 Kurota Farazuke**

What the hell… This must be a genjutsu. They told me what a genjutsu is at the academy. Some sort of illusion, if I remember correctly. My father must be playing a prank on me or something. Wait... My father is on mission outside the village for a few days… But then why? Am I really crazy?

I shrugged, and dismissed the problem for later. Maybe I'm just sleepy and imaginating things. Gotta take breakfast. So I walked to the kitchen and put some cereals in a bowl. I like cereals: It's quick to prepare, quick to eat, and taste all right. I ate while thinking, what the hell is wrong with me today?

"Hi! You're pretty early, today."

That's mom. She's a civilian, and she handles our clothes shop. She has long brown hair and green eyes, like me. I inherited most of her physical features, except for the spikyness of my hair. Thanks dad.

I turned my head to see her. My eyes narrowed at the words above her.

 **Legendary Tailor**

 **Lv3 Sachiko Farazuke**

Legendary…? Yeah, mom is pretty good at tailoring, so it makes sense. We're not popular because of the location of our house, and if mom wasn't here, our shop would fall down in dust… Why am I trying to make sense of these meaningless words…?

I sighed.

"Good morning. Yeah, I feel great today." I replied.

"Really?" she seemed surprised. After all, I 'm pretty much always tired. "Enough to begin your training?" She asked while joining me eating.

"… I'll think about it."I replied.

"You better. Your father asked me to remind you, after all."

"Um… Is there something above my head?" I asked suddenly.

She looked at me, an eyebrow raised, and her eyes turned up, searching for something. She smiled.

"Nothing except your beautiful spiky hair, Kuro-chan!"

I groaned.

"Ugh. Don't call me that."

So she don't see it. It's me and only me. Great.

She giggled slightly, and got up. Yeah my mother eats fast, very fast.

"Anyway," she said, and suddenly, a yellow question mark appeared above her, "Since you're up already, you might as well wash all the dishes, okay?"

 **A quest has been created.**

 **Quest alert: Wash the dishes!**

 **Your mother wants you to wash the dishes.**

 **Dishes washed: 0/10**

 **Completion reward: 50 XP, increased closeness with mother**

 **Completion failure: Disappointment of mother**

 **YES/NO**

My eyes widened.

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 **A/N: So, here it is. As I said, this is my first fanfic so please tell me in the reviews what's good and what's not. Plus, I'm French, so my grammar may be a bit weird… Don't hesitate to point my faults. Next chapter Thursday, I think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Review replies :**

 **bbb671: The character is a boy. I wonder how did I forget to mention that.**

 **Thank you all for your support! I hope you enjoy, here's the chapter 2.**

* * *

« Kuro-chan? Are you okay ? »

I blinked, and shook my head. What the hell? I looked at my mother, who was staring at me concerned.

"Ah… yeah… No problem. Just, how many dishes are there?"

She frowned, but counted them nonetheless.

"Ten."She answered,"And yes, you're going to clean all of them. Even if you have your head in the clouds."

I narrowed my eyes, continuing to eat.

 **Dishes washed: 0/10**

How did it get it right? I didn't knew the number of dishes to clean, so those blue boxes didn't get it in my head. And if it's _not_ in my head… And considering I'm the only one who can see them… What the fuck is happening to me? I got a quest? With XP for the completion? This is probably a genjutsu joke. It _has_ to be.

Finally, I finished my plate, sighed, and tapped discretely the _YES_.

"All right. Let's do this."I said, getting up and approaching the washbowl.

My mom smiled and descended to open the shop, while I began to do my thing.

One dish.

Two dishes.

Three dishes.

Fo… _Ping!_

 **A skill has been created through a special act.**

 **Through continuous wash of dishes, a skill "Dish Washing" has been created.**

 **[Dish Washing (passive) Lv1 EXP: 0,00%]**

 **A technique to wash dishes.**

 **With more mastery, you can clean any dirty spots.**

 **5% increase in dish washing speed.**

My eye twitched, and I closed the window quickly, returning to my job.

Four dishes.

Five dishes.

Six dis… _Ping!_

 **[Dish Washing]'s level has risen by one.**

Huh. That was fast.

Seven.

Eight.

Nine...

Ten.

 **+50XP**

Okay, done. Now what the hell was that? The more I think about it, the more improbable it seems to get. Who would want to cast a genjutsu on me? Dad was on mission and I'm pretty sure he sucks at genjutsu. And It doesn't help that I could _feel_ my hands cleaning faster when I obtained the skill, and more so when its level had risen…

If this thing was real… then there is probably some kind of interface, to keep track of my skills for example. And conveniently, the moment I wished that, a red window opened in front of me. If it's a genjutsu, then the caster can read my thoughts... I shrugged, and looked at the rectangle. It's probably not a genjutsu. And if it is, I'll play along for now. It can't hurt after all.

 **Skill window**

 **[Gamer's mind (passive) LvMAX]**

 **Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through.**

 **Allows peaceful state of mind.**

 **Immunity to psychological status effects.**

 **[Gamer's body (passive) LvMAX]**

 **Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game.**

 **After sleep in a bed the user recover all HP, CP and MP.**

 **[Dish Washing (passive) Lv2 EXP: 80%]**

 **A technique to wash dishes.**

 **With more mastery, you can clean any dirty spots.**

 **6% increase in dish washing speed.**

Okay… that would explain my state of mind, and why my body feels completely rested even though I slept only a few hours. But, it _granted_ me a body? Did my body changed somehow in a few hours? I can't help but laugh nervously while reading those skill's effects. I'm sure it's not real anyway...

"Kuro-chan! You're going to be late!" Mom shouted from the lower floor.

"I'm going! I'm going..."I answered, as I picked up my things and descended too.

"See ya." I quickly said whilst I passed the door and set out.

As I walked I thought about this weird… ability? Or genjutsu?

Okay, I'm going to assume this is somehow real. So I gain skills when I do things and get quests when I'm asked to do something. What else? Ah, I completely heal when I sleep in a bed. That's pretty broken. And I can see levels above the heads of people.

 **Most Shameless Scammer of Konoha**

 **Lv4 Choruma Temu**

I chuckled quietly when I passed the big guy, who gave me a glare.

 **War veteran**

 **Lv37 Hiboko Kurokawa**

This time, I nodded respectfully to the man who missed an arm, and he returned it to me, a little surprised. Somehow, this is pretty convenient.

What else… Could it be… If this is a Rpg game, do I have a status window? Just as I was asking that to myself, a red box appeared, and I smiled in satisfaction.

 **Name:** **Kurota Farazuke**  
 **Title** **: The Gamer**  
 **Level: LV1(25%)**  
 **HP:** **400/400**

 **CP: 900/900**  
 **MP:** **1000/1000**  
 **STR:** **5**  
 **VIT: 4**  
 **DEX: 16**

 **CKR:** **9**

 **CKRC: 2**  
 **INT: 10**  
 **WIS: 11**  
 **POINTS:** **0**

Wow, all my stats are numbered? Cool. I pulled a face though when I saw my strength, vitality, and chakra control. I'll have to train, and it figured to me that training seemed a lot more appealing now that I could directly see the effects it has on me. I examined the numbers, let's see… It seems like I gain 100HP max for each point in vitality, same goes for chakra with CKR and mana with INT.

Wait, what? _Mana?_ I can have mana and cast… spells?! What the hell! If mana does exist, how come nobody noticed it? Holy shit… If this thing is a real ability, I'm going to keep it secret for now… I don't want to become target number one of kekkai genkai hunters… If this thing is a kekkai genkai.

 **Due to your habit of making intelligent decisions, you gained one WIS.**

Oh, cool. So I must make valuable decisions to increase WIS. That's… logical, actually. I wonder what I'll need to do to increase the other stats. And if I can gain points by leveling up...

 _Bump!_

 **\- 1HP**

I fell abruptly on ground. That hurts… I just knocked my head with …

"Bwahahahahaha! That'll teach you not to mock me! Because one day I'll be Hokage! Believe it! " I heard shout, as I wondered why did he assumed that I mocked him.

"Uzumaki..." I groaned, while getting up and…

 _Bump!_

 **-2 HP**

"Sorry, Kurota-kun. Naruto! Come back here now!"I heard the voice of Iruka-sensei yell at him as he quickly get after him. Ah, so he wasn't talking to me.

 _Ping!_

 **Through continuous hurt, a skill "Physical Resistance" has been created.**

 **[Physical Resistance (passive)Lv1 EXP: 0,00%]**

 **The body's durability and toughness increase and you take less damage.**

 **3% decrease in damage from physical attacks.**

"Damn it."

* * *

 **That's it. Yeah, I incorporated magic with mana in this fic. So, let's assume that mana always existed in the Naruto-verse and nobody found about it, or if they did, they didn't talked about it. I hope you enjoy this story nonetheless. Next chapter should be tomorrow.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

I sighed as I made my way to the classroom. Naruto actually woke up early in order to play a prank. Is it really that fun to watch, and worth being chased by ANBU and Iruka-sensei? I arrived to the room, right in time, and examined the levels and titles of my comrades.

I raised my eyebrows. Seriously? The majority of the girls have the title **Uchiha Fan-** **G** **irl**...?

Again, I sighed. And they wanted to become ninjas… I walked to the bottom of the class, and sat as usual next to Shino, while the class talked loudly, waiting for sensei to arrive.

 **Stoic Bug Manipulator**

 **Lv 13 Shino Aburame**

I like Shino, he's quiet, always calm. He don't talk to me often, so it's perfect to sleep… ahem… to listen to the lesson. I returned to my observation of titles, and a few attracted my attention.

 **Lazy Genius**

 **Lv 13 Shikamaru Nara**

I didn't suspect him to be at this level… I thought he was like me in a way. He must have some tricks up his sleeve...

 **Holder Of The Last Crisps**

 **Lv11 Shoji Akimichi**

I smiled when I saw Choji's title. Truly he won't let anyone have the last crisps.

 **Self Proclaimed Alpha Male**

 **Lv12 Kiba Inuzuka**

Haha, so true.

 **Inuzuka Dog**

 **Lv7 Akamaru**

 **Secret Admirer**

 **Lv14 Hinata Hyuga**

Well, everyone knew the crush of the little Hinata on Naruto. Lv14 is the highest I have seen for now, by the way, who would have thought?

 **Uchiha Fan-Girl**

 **Lv9 Ino Yamanaka**

 **Uchiha Fan-Girl**

 **Lv9 Sakura Haruno**

 **Revenge Seeker**

 **Lv16 Sasuke Uchiha**

Of course, the great Sasuke Uchiha was above everyone. It looks like he's probably the closest to be a true ninja with Shino, but his title made me think otherwise… I heard about the Uchiha Massacre, 4 years ago, and I had some idea of the object of his revenge: Itachi Uchiha, a missing-nin that slaughtered all his family except one child. Poor Sasuke. I don't think I could survive like that, without anyone, but I suppose he must find the will to continue in his seek of revenge.

The rest of the class was level 6 on average. And I was level 1, because of lack of training, lack of study, and lack of talent, so I had some work to catch up.

The moment I was going to return to my experimentations, Iruka-sensei and Naruto showed up. The first looked pissed, while the other pouted.

 **Perfect Academy Teacher**

 **Lv32 Iruka Umino**

 **Loud Prankster**

 **Lv11 Naruto Uzumaki**

"Sorry for the late, everyone. Naruto, take your seat please. So, today's lesson… The history of the Kages. You all know the Yondaime Hokage, who sacrified himself to save the village..."

As he began the lesson, I zoned off. Honestly who would listen to the history of the Kages instead of experimenting with a newfound weird ability?

Okay, so I have a status window… Now if this is a true RPG game… Again, a red window appeared.

 **Inventory**

I smiled, but when I saw the details I frowned. It listed what I was wearing, with equipments slots, but there was nothing in my inventory. There was no money too, whereas I had 63 ryos in my pocket. I reflected on this for a long moment, and I had an idea. What if I needed to place something in those slots? I slowly and discretely moved the window under the desk, reached my pen, and approached it of the first of the 24 slots. When it touched, it began to disappear and as I was moving my hand, it vanished in the rectangle completely. I stared for a moment at my hand that was partly in the rectangle, - or rather, my half-hand? - a little awed by what I was doing, and began to retract it, leaving the pen wherever it was. A picture of my pen appeared inside the slot. Okay, this is official now, this thing is _not_ a genjutsu, an illusion can't make a pen disappear. Or the pen was an illusion too?

"KUROTA!" a voice shouted.

I looked to see the source of the sound, and found a really pissed Iruka-sensei. I noted everyone was staring at me for some reason.

"What was I talking about just now?" he asked me, staring me dangerously.

Shit.

"Umm… you were talking about the kages..." I answered easily.

"Which one?"

"...The Sandaime?" I tried, hopeful.

"Wrong, the Nidaime. And you earned the class a surprise evaluation on the Henge no jutsu." He stated casually.

"What?!" The class shouted, and turned glaring at me.

Being the focus of the attention made me uneasy before, but now, I didn't care, thanks to the gamer's mind.

"Come on Kurota-kun. You're the first, demonstrate." He smiled encouragingly at me.

Needless to say, my Henge was pitiful: my transformation was always disproportionated. I took place calmly next to him, and I hear him advice.

"A quick reminder of the Jutsu everyone: you need to challenge your chakra around you and try making it match the shape of the target. Like this! Henge No Jutsu!"

There was a little _"poof"_ , the smoke cleared and he was transformed in the Sandaime.

 _Ping!_

 **Through continuous listening to a master's teachings, a skill "Henge No Justsu" has been created.**

 **[Henge No Jutsu (Active) Lv1 EXP: 0,00% / CP: 50]**

 **One of the three basic Ninjutsu. It allows the user to change his shape to something or someone that he can picture clearly. Increasing CKRC and skill level augment the detection difficulty.  
**

 **Additional 10 CP per 1 minute**

 **Casting time: 3 seconds**

I looked at the window for a brief moment and turned to Iruka-sensei who was staring at me, hopeful.

I smirked.

"Henge No Jutsu!" I said, activating the skill and forming the hand seals.

For a moment everyone stared at me, waiting. After 3 seconds, there was a loud _"POOF!"_ and I emerged from the smoke, completely and perfectly transformed into Iruka-sensei.

The teacher smiled at me, proud of my achievement.

"That's great, Kurota-kun! I guess you practiced after all, huh?"

"Not really..."

"Come on, next!"

I returned and sat, watching the others, still smiling. I did it! Finally, I was able to do this. This Gamer ability will change my whole life! I can learn jutsus if I ask a teacher that know it well enough, and this inventory is awesome! I no longer need to carry things around... I wonder if it conserves the current state of things, like heat for example. That would be convenient to "carry" my lunches in my inventory.

As I stared at my classmates, Sakura Haruno did the Henge and transformed herself in a perfect Iruka-sensei like me. However, I noticed that the illusion of her foot was traversing a gum on the ground, cutting it in half apparently.

 _'I see… Even though we can do the jutsu perfectly, we didn't mastered it at all…'_ I mused, narrowing my eyes.

 _Ping!_

 **Through continuous observation of your surroundings, a skill "Observe" was created.**

 **[Observe (Active) Lv1 EXP: 0,00%]**

 **A skill to find the target's information.**

 **More informations are revealed as this skill levels up.**

"I keep getting skills..." I mumbled.

 _'That's sounds pretty useful.'_ I thought, and tested it on Iruka-sensei.

"Observe."

This time a light gray window appeared.

 **Iruka Umino Lv 32**

 **Hpmax: 1000 CPmax: 3400 MPmax: 1400**

 **Iruka Umino is a chûnin of Konoha, and a teacher for future ninjas at the village's academy.**

 _'That's not very much info,'_ I thought, _'but it'll increase with the level.'_

I passed rest of the waiting time using [Observe] on everything and everybody, leveling it two times before I read something intriguing…

 **Naruto Uzumaki Lv11**

 **HP: 700/700 CP: 101600/102100 MP: 400/400**

 **A student of the academy of Konoha. He wants to become a ninja to accomplish his dream, become the Hokage of the village. The majority of the village hates him because he is the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.**

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 **A/N: Thanks for reading. Next chapter tomorrow, maybe this evening if I have time.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **I managed to find time writing, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

 **Naruto Uzumaki Lv11**

 **HP: 700/700 CP: 101600/102100 MP: 400/400**

 **A student of the academy of Konoha. He wants to become a ninja to accomplish his dream, become the Hokage of the village. The majority of the village hates him because he is the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.**

I read the number multiple times, until I'm sure I didn't misread that. There's too many digits! He has more than 100 times my chakra! How can this be possible at his level? It seems I'm not the only one who has broken powers. Though that would be hell to control… Ah, so that's why he can't do a bunshin! For him to have so much chakra, It must be an effect of the jinchuuriki thing, or something like that. What's a jinchuuriki, anyway?

"All right, everybody has passed. We'll end this morning lesson with a light jogging and some shuriken and kunai training."Iruka-sensei called.

I put my current thoughts aside and we headed outside behind the academy. We began running in circle in the court, while I used [Observe] on everything I could.

 **Through continuous exercising, you gained 1 VIT.**

Despite being the last of the group, even behind Choji, I grinned. Being informed like that of your progress is so motivating!

30 minutes or so later, I gained another point, and Iruka-sensei stopped us to practice shuriken and kunai throws. Needless to say, I was panting hard and gasped for breath.

In the backyard, numerous human shaped targets were standing, and soon everyone took out their shurikens or kunais.

Finally something I know how to do. I'm not the best, but at least I touch the target. I took out my own tools and started throwing them, aiming at the wood target I picked. Soon, I heard the now familiar sound of the creation of a new skill.

 _Ping!_

 **Through continuous throws of weapons, a skill [Throwing Weapons Mastery] has been created.**

 **[Throwing Weapons Mastery (Passive) LV 5 EXP: 0,00%]  
**  
 **Allows the user to better use throwning weapons such as kunais, shurikens, senbons or more with skill and precision. As the skill grows, more projectiles can be thrown simultaneously. Range** **and projectile speed** **improve with** **STR. Precision** **improve with** **DEX.  
10% increased damage ****when you throw something** **.  
20% increased projectile speed.**

This one started at level 5, so I suppose it considered my previous experience too. Damn, that mean I really sucked at Henge no jutsu. I continued throwing my kunais and shuriken until the skill reached level 7 (Oddly, it seemed to improve very fast, compared to my previous proficiency) and noticed Mizuki-sensei approach Naruto. Normally I wouldn't pay attention, but when I read his title, I stopped.

 **Follower Of Orochimaru**

 **Lv33 Mizuki Itsoki**

I may have slept in a lot of lessons before, but even I know who the Sannins are. Jiraya, Orochimaru and Tsunade are quite renowned, and are hailed as three of the greatest shinobi of their time. Orochimaru, called the prodigy of his generation; endeavoured to gain immortality via means of kinjutsu in order to learn every technique possible… Probably the evilest man of this world. And apparently, Mizuki-sensei is a follower of that guy. Wonderful.

I used [Observe] on him, but didn't find something really useful, besides learning that he was a bastard that was pretending to be Iruka-sensei's friend to be noticed and to discreetly keep him miserable. The skill's level must be too low probably.

I noticed that he was teaching Naruto wrong movements to throw shurikens, making it seem cool with his chûnin's skills. I gritted my teeth, and went to them.

"Excuse me, Mizuki-sensei? Your technique is wrong. It's more like that." I pointed as I demonstrated while throwing a shuriken at the target.

"What?" He angrily groaned."Did we asked you something? I'm trying to teach Naruto-kun here."

At that, Naruto smiled brightly at Mizuki. "Yeah, he's teaching me some cool technique! Believe it!"He happily said.

"Ah, is that so? Then please demonstrate to the class, it's not fair if it's only him after all." I suggested innocently.

"Tch, whatever. You know what? You two forget it. I'm not teaching my awesome technique after all." He decided and get away.

"What? But Mizuki-senseiiii you told me..." Naruto protested, confused.

"Forget it!"He told us and entered the academy building.

"Bastard..."I mumbled, and relaxed when he was gone. A student of Orochimaru must be very dangerous after all. When I got a surprised glance from Naruto, I explained to him: "Come on, Naruto, don't look at me like that. He tried to teach you a wrong technique; it's true that there are more efficient ways to throw a shuriken, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't one. For us academy students, we must master the basic throw first and only after modify it to suit us better."

I threw another shuriken to the target. "Like this. You see now? What?"

He was staring at me like I was a stranger or something."Nothing… It's not like you, that's all."

"Ah." I threw another shuriken and smiled at him."Yeah, I had some kind of… epiphany last night."

He began throwing too."Wow, this a lot easier. I'll master It in no time, believe it!"

He turned to me, grinning, and I gave him a thumbs up."I'm sure you will! Hey can I ask you something?"As he nodded, I continued :"How come you have so much chakra?"

"Huh? I have a lot of chakra?"

"Yeah, like 100 times more than me. You didn't know?"

"100 times?! That much, seriously? I'm so powerful! With that I'll be soon hokage, believe it!"

I frowned, and decided to reuse [Observe] on him, to see if I could have more info on this jinchuuriki thing and this huge chakra pool. It leveled up 3 times after all.

 **Naruto Uzumaki Lv11**

 **HP: 700/700 CP: 101600/102100 MP: 400/400**

 **A student of the academy of Konoha. He wants to become a ninja to accomplish his dream, become the Hokage of the village. The majority of the village hates him because he is the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, which was sealed inside him by his own father, the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato. He loves ramen, and eat nothing else.**

...What…? Isn't the Kyuubi dead?

Iruka-sensei chose this moment to end the lesson.

As all the students leaved after returning the weapons, I remained behind, staring at the window.

"See ya, Kurota, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled at us as he leaved without letting us the chance to reply.

"Kurota-kun? You need something?" Sensei asked me as he put away the targets.

"Uh? Yes, actually, I wanna ask you something..."

"Go ahead."

"I wanted to know, what's a jinchuuriki?"

He froze, turning his eyes to me, and put down the target he was carrying.

"… Why do you ask?" He seemed uncomfortable.

"Why?" I repeated, not understanding."Because of Naruto, of course!"

His eyes widened, and he paled.

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 **A/N: Next chapter should be Thursday, I'll be busy tomorrow. Don't hesitate to suggest things in the reviews if you want, like skills, game mechanics, etc. And yes, I like cliffhangers.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Review replies :**

 **Professor I.P. Freely: Thank you for pointing out my mistakes. I reviewed the 4 chapters and corrected a few.**

 **Don't hesitate to tell me if my grammar is horrible, I can always edit the chapters.**

 **I hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

"You know that he is..."

"A jinchuuriki?" I finished for him. "Yeah. Actually, I found out this morning."

"Who told you?"He asked, a serious expression on his face."This is a S-ranked secret, only the Hokage is allowed to reveal it to someone."

"A secret?" I repeated."S-rank..."Crap. S-ranked secrets are heavily protected, and I could be executed if I answer wrong. Being a teenager won't protect me from that.

"You didn't know? Kurota-kun. Who told you? And did you tell anyone?"

I didn't have time to think, I needed to answer immediately to not raise suspicions….

"No one told me and I didn't tell anybody." I stated, while making up a story in my head.

"Then how did you know?"

Okay, not the time to freak out.

"I just noticed that Naruto was being called names by the villages, and I heard someone calling him a jinchuuriki. So it's not an insult?" I asked innocently.

Iruka-sensei stared at me in the eyes, searching for something. Even with this type of answer, I knew that they'll eventually send someone to interrogate mom. I was freaking worried, one mistake here and I'll be dead by the evening...

"Fine. I trust you." he sighed. Thank god. Or more like thank [Gamer's Mind]. "But you'll have to accompany me to see the Hokage anyway. Right now." Damn. Well, as expected, I can't get away with that.

"Yes, sir."

He smiled at me and began leading the way to the Hokage tower. I followed quietly, wondering what other secrets I'll discover in this village by the end of the day. So basically, I'll have to convince the Hokage that I mean no harm to Naruto and don't intend to reveal his secret to everybody. I never met the Sandaime, but I heard he was kind with children so I should be fine. I hope so.

We entered the building, and went straight to the Hokage's office.

"Hokage-sama."

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?*? (A/N: for some reason the site don't let me align interrogation points.)** **  
**

 **Lv? Hiruzen Sarutobi**

Interesting, I can't see his level. It must be too high. I tried to use Observe on him too, but It just opened a window saying:

 **[Observe]'s level is to low to get the target's information.**

"Iruka." The old man greeted, thankful for the interruption of paperwork. "You brought one of your student, I see."

"Hokage-sama." I bowed.

"What is your name, young one?" He asked kindly.

"Kurota, sir." I answered.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kurota-kun. So why are you here Iruka?" He returned his eyes to Iruka-sensei.

"Hokage-sama, I came to report that Kurota-kun here discovered the truth about Naruto."

At that, the Sandaime slowly leaned back in his chair, and looked at me, before replying:

"...I see." He took his pipe and began smoking, contemplating me. I supported his glance, waiting. After a few moments, he exhaled a bit of smoke and told to Iruka-sensei:"I'll talk to him. You can leave us."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

He waited until he was gone, and began:

"So, Kurota-kun. You want to be a ninja?"

"Yes, sir."

"Can you explain me why?"He asked.

" _He wants to know what kind of person I am."_ I guessed. I smiled and answered truthfully:

"It seems cool, and I want to learn new things."

He laughed a little at that, but returned quickly to his serious mode."So, tell me what you think you know about Naruto."

I replied carefully:"Well, at first I thought he was a dumb guy who liked to prank and shouted everywhere he wanted to become Hokage. I thought the village hated him because of his pranks, but this morning, I heard someone calling him a jinchuuriki. So I came to ask Iruka-sensei about it, he told me it was a S-rank secret and asked me to follow him here."

"Did you see who was calling him that?"

"No. I just heard it with other things like 'demon brat' or 'murderer'" I said, remembering a few insults frowned at Naruto.

He frowned a little at that. "Yes, the village is not as understanding as I thought It would be." He sighed. "I might as well explain it to you entirely before you misunderstand. Listen: We told the new generation that the Kyuubi was killed by the Yondaime 12 years ago. That is wrong. You see, Tailed Beasts can't die: if it's destroyed, it'll regenerate and come back to life eventually. So the Yondaime Hokage sealed it inside a baby, sacrificing himself in the process. He wanted the child to be treated like a hero for keeping the fox inside him, but the village hated him like they hated the Kyuubi. This child was Naruto." He finished and observed my reaction. Unfortunately, I forgot to make up one since I already knew most of it.

"I see…"I mused, understanding.

"You're not surprised?"He raised an eyebrow.

"I already suspected something like that: his birthday, the whisker marks, the way people treat him." It was kind of true. I always found weird how everyone was like: 'don't talk to him!';'don't look at him!'. Even my parents...

"You seem like a smart boy, Kurota-kun. I suppose I don't need to tell you he's not the Kyuubi?" He asked, for the sake of it, smiling at me.

I grinned.

"No, I think I know the difference, sir."

"Good. Don't tell anyone about this, not even Naruto."

I blinked, surprised.

"He doesn't know? Why? He'll have to learn about it eventually!"

"He's not ready yet. I intend to tell him well he'll be older." He was staring hard at me. There was no place for discussion here.

"You can leave now."He sighed, and added: "Why don't you try to befriend Naruto? I think you two could use a friend."

 _'He know me_ _._ _'_ I thought as I protested: "If I lie to him how can I possibly be his friend?"

"You won't lie to him, you'll simply keep the truth for yourself. Besides, it's because you know the whole truth that I asked you that. There's a chance that others will end up hating him because of the Kyuubi but now that I'm sure you know the difference, like you said..."

I laughed nervously, interrupting him. "Haha, I don't know about that sir, I'm kind of socially awkward right now..."

"Yet another reason to befriend him. He'll open you a bit more to others, and you'll keep him in line."He advised kindly.

"I'll think about it." I conceded as I get up." Thanks for explaining this to me."

"You're welcome, Kurota-kun. Good luck for your graduation exam in two weeks."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

* * *

 **A/N: Next chapter should be in a few hours. Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **A/N: I just found out that Kakashi has low chakra reserves. And since I've based Naruto's amount of Chakra on the fact that he has 4 times more chakra than kakashi at 16 years old, I edited the previous chapters and cut naruto's chakra by half. Sorry for that.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

I relaxed when I got out of the building. Surely [Gamer's Mind] was useful! Staying calm and thinking logically allowed me to answer carefully each question without letting what I really knew slip out of my mouth. He would keep an eye on me, of course, and I'm sure they'll investigate to see if I told them the truth, but it should be fine. Either way, I don't think he can do otherwise in this, it's a S-rank secret after all.

I thought about my future training while going home. So… to increase VIT, I'll need to run around a bit. Which I'm doing right now. For STR, I guess I'll need to do push-ups or sit-ups. The ideal would be to get weights. For DEX… I'll need to work on my reflexes, my speed, my precision… I don't really know how to do that. CKR is the easier: everyone know you needed to use lots of chakra techniques to build more chakra. For CKRC, I guess I can do the leaf exercise. You know, concentrating your chakra to stick the leaf on your hand. As for INT, I guess I'll try to study… There's a written part to the graduation exam after all. I'm not sure how I can train WIS though, I'll think about that later…

Of course, I'll need to train skills too. The 3 basic ninjutsus are the priority, since ninjutsu was my bad point before. I'll train taijutsu too, along with the [Throwing Weapon Mastery]. I'll keep the training at that, I don't have time for anything else, really.

"I'm back." I told my mother when I got into the shop."How was business?"

"Boring, there's almost nobody today." She sighed.

"Well, I'm sorry I won't be here to keep you company this afternoon. Time for training!" I quickly went upside to change into training outfit. Then I grabbed my wallet and got down.

"Oh my god, you're really going to train..." She muttered as she saw me leaving.

"Haha! You didn't believe me? Well this time I'll be out for the whole afternoon!"

"Don't overwork yourself… and come back before dinner, okay?"

 _Ping!_

 **A new quest has been created.**

 **Mom's request: Come back before dinner!**

 **Your mother wishes you to come back before dinner.**

 **Time limit: 7:00 P.M.**

 **Completion Reward: 50 XP, Increased mom's trust in you.**

 **Completion Failure: Decrease mom's trust in you.**

"Sure. See ya!" I accepted the quest and left.

As soon a I got outside, I activated my [Henge No Jutsu] to train my chakra. I'll need to stop it before chakra exhaustion… Let's say in one hour.

"Status."

 **Name: Kurota Farazuke**  
 **Title: The Gamer**  
 **Level: LV1(25%)**  
 **HP: 600/600  
** **CP:850/900(+38/hour)  
** **MP: 1000/1000  
** **STR: 5  
** **VIT: 6  
** **DEX: 16  
** **CKR: 9  
** **CKRC: 2  
** **INT: 10  
** **WIS: 12  
** **POINTS: 0**

Ah, I can see my CP regen? Is it because the bar is not full? That's not very much... I did a quick calculation in my mind... 38 per hour means I'll need about an entire day to replenish my chakra entirely.

Suddenly, I got an idea… What if…

 _'Observe'_ I thought as I was eyeing the red rectangle, my CP bar more precisely.

 **Current CP: 850**

 **Maximum CP: 900 (100 x CKR)**

 **CP Regenration: 38 per hour ( (4% of CP max + 100% of CKRC) per hour)**

I pouted when I saw the informations. Cp regen did depend on CKRC, but in an additive way, so that's not very effective.

I turned my eyes to my health bar and mana bar and repeated the same thing.

 **Current HP: 600 HP**

 **Maximum HP: 600 HP**

 **HP Regeneration: 6 per hour ( (1% of HPmax) per hour)**

 **Current MP: 1000**

 **Maximum MP: 1000 ( 100 x INT)**

 **MP Regeneration: 12 per minute ( (0,1% of MPmax) x (100% of WIS) per minute)**

 **A/N: I thought a lot about this, and ended up with this system. I don't know how fast ninjas regen their chakra so I had to guess. Even if I'm wrong, let's say it's an effect of [Gamer's Body].**

 **[Observe]'s level has risen by one!**

Now that's interesting. My HP regen is basically useless, I need more than four days to recover chakra entirely, and I just need to sleep in a bed to refill it. The mana regen was greatly affected by WIS, so if I need to improve it this will be quite easy. However, I don't care about mana for now, it'll wait after the graduation exam. You don't become shinobi with magic.

I closed the window and started jogging. After a few minutes I stopped in front of a weapon shop.

I entered, and examined the articles. There was not only various weapons, but also armors. I was sighing as I didn't found what I searched for, when a voice raised behind me.

"You're looking for something in particular?"

I turned to see the girl who was talking to me, smiling curiously.

 **Tom-Boy Aiming Perfectly**

 **Lv25 Tenten**

"It depends." I answered, smiling back at her."Do you have weights?"

"Yeah, they're in the back. Come with me."

I followed her inside a stockpile, and saw various weight sets. I [Observe]d them.

 **Low level** **weight set**

 **A set of weights designed for beginners in strength training.**

 **Price: 10000 ryos**

The others were the same, except the level varied to Intermediate and Advandced. Except one:

 **Adjustable level** **weight set**

 **A** **weight set** **with a seal that absorb** **s** **chakra on it. The weight increase** **s** **the more you put chakra into it.**

 **Price: 50000 ryos**

I looked at my wallet, I had only 30000. Ugh…

"Can I book this one?" I asked dejectedly. "I don't have enough now."

"Ah, this one? You have good eyes, this is the best of the best. Sure, when do you think you'll have enough?"

"I'd say in a month."

She wrote the date on a paper. "I'll need your name, and that'll be all."

"Kurota Farasuke."

"Done. You're training to become a ninja?" she asked, as she put the paper on the weights.

"Yes. The graduation exam is in two weeks."

"Good luck then!"

And with that, I returned to my training.

* * *

 **A/N: I'll try to find time tomorrow to write, but I'll be busy.**

 **Last edited the 09/04/2017**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

* * *

I exercised myself for only one hour, due to my low vitality, so I decided to train my chakra control while I rested. Surprisingly, within 2 hours I was completely fine and no longer tired, **(A/N: Jee Han actually only needs 30 minutes** **of rest** **, lol)** so I decided to do push-ups and sit-ups to test myself. I lasted a little more this time… I deduced that vitality affected stamina too. Again, I only needed a couple hours for my body to rest; it must be [Gamer's Body] at work again. Naturally, I always kept Henge active the most long time possible to build chakra.

In the end of the day, I was quite proud of myself: I managed to get 6 point of VIT, STR, and CKR, 8 of CKRC, and upped my Henge to level 9.

"Status."

 **Name:** **Kurota Farazuke**  
 **Title** **: The Gamer**  
 **Level: LV1** **(25%)**  
 **HP:** **1020** **/** **1020**

 **CP:** **102** **/** **15** **00** **(+** **70** **/hour)**  
 **MP:** **1000/1000**  
 **STR:** **11**  
 **VIT:** **12**  
 **DEX: 16**

 **CKR:** **15**

 **CKRC:** **10**  
 **INT: 10**  
 **WIS: 1** **2**  
 **POINTS:** **0**

I examined my stats as I was getting home, and noticed something...

My HP max started increasing by 10 instead of 100! Why? Does it consider that I finished my growth or something like that? Ugh… VIT isn't as broken as I thought. As I observed people, I found out that normal people all had 1000 HP on average, the tough one hitting 1500, so I deduced that, indeed, 1000 was the normal amount of HP for adults.

"I'm home..." I mumbled as I opened the entrance.

 **+50XP**

"So, did you actually trained? How was it?" mom flashed me her habitual smile, as she approached me.

"Kinda boring. Not enough action, just grinding. But it'll change when I'll become a genin, I guess."

"You don't look very tired."She remarked, amused by my answer. "Well, if you have time, can you help with the cloth? Here, do this one, it's the last."

I nodded, grabbed the material and started working, accepting a crafting quest in the process. I help mom sometimes in the tailoring, so I'm already well used to this.

 _Ping!_

 **[Tailoring (Passive) Lv37 EXP: 71,57%]**

 **A crafting skill to make clothes. You're able to make or adapt cloth to suit yourself.**

 **Crafted clothes become better as mastery level rises.**

 **[Crafting (Passive) Lv9 EXP: 23,5%]**

 **A skill to make something. Humanity has advanced their civilization through inventing things. Crafted objects become better as mastery level rises.**

 **45 % increase efficiency in crafting type skills**

 **Known crafting skills: Tailoring Lv37**

As expected, all RPG worth the name have a crafting system. I grinned as I continued working on the cloth. Level 37 in tailoring, indeed I wasn't a beginner in the area, and I was glad I didn't have to restart at level 1.

It took half an hour to finish making the pants.

 **+100XP**

 **Your level has risen by one!**

I got up and put it on the table.

"I'll go study now. Tell me when dinner is ready."

"You? Studying?" She repeated, throwing me a mocking glance. "Now I'd like to see that."

"Yeah, well, you'll see. I'll get smart and ace the graduation exam. Just you wait!" I grinned and went to my room.

I studied 4 hours or so, only interrupting to go eat dinner, but even with that much time, my INT only increased by one! This'll be a tough stat to raise… So I decided that I'll put my future points in INT and WIS, since they're the two most difficult and time-consuming to increase.

 **Due to your habit of making intelligent decisions, you gained one WIS.**

I sighed as I got to bed. This had been a long day.

* * *

The next day, I decided to seat next to Naruto. He _is_ the only one who don't think I am a nerd. Even though I am.

"Hey, Naruto. Good morning." I greeted as I sat next to him.

"Kurota! Please confirm to this bastard that I have tons of chakra!"

I moved to see the "bastard" at the other sipe of the table: Sasuke.

"Let me see… Ah, yes, your reserve is actually... about 20 times bigger than his." I observed. Literally.

"Hell yeah! Take this, teme!" Naruto shouted in victory, pointing his finger at Sasuke.

"How would you know that?" Sasuke asked me, narrowing his eyes.

I bit my lips, of course he would ask... I really need to raise my intelligence... or is it wisdom in this case?

"Um… It's like… a 6th sense?" I replied carefully.

"WOW! KUROTA CAN SENSE CHAKRA!" Naruto yelled, and I facepalmed, all the class turning to look at me, scepticals.

"Is that true, Kurota-kun? You can sense chakra?" Iruka-sensei asked me, agreeably surprised.

"Kind of. I can just tell the amount of chakra, not his location." I answered. Might as well go along with it, it wasn't that bad an idea.

"Prove it." Sasuke arrogantly required. A bunch of Uchiha Fan-Girls squealed, delighted that their idol spoke while in class, which doesn't happen very often.

"How?" I asked him.

"I can suppress a part of my chakra," Iruka-sensei intervened, "you'll just have to tell me how much I hid."

"Okay..." I said, unsure. I used [Observe] and keep the window opened in front of me, his CP was at 3200/3200 right now.

"Now, how much do you think I suppressed?" He asked.

His CP was at 403/3200 now that he hid it. Interesting how [Observe] worked.

"You divided your chakra by 8." I stated. Iruka-sensei's eyes widened and he confirmed:

"He really can sense chakra, Sasuke."

"See! I _have_ tons of chakra!" Naruto grinned victoriously.

"Hn. Whatever." The Uchiha went back to his 'I'm-Better-Than-You-So-Don't-Talk-To-me' mode and looked away.

"So now that the matter is dealt with, let's start… Today is about different types of weapons..."Iruka-sensei began the lesson.

This time, I listened and took notes, as I needed knowledge to pass the exam. Surprisingly, I gained a point in INT. Maybe it's more effective to learn with a teacher?

After that, we practised Bunshin, and I managed to get Iruka-sensei to teach me Kawarimi as well.

 **[** **Kawarimi No Jutsu** **(Active) LV** **1** **EXP:** **0,00** **% / CP:** **100** **]  
** **One of the three basic Ninjutsu. An incredibl** **y** **useful defensive jutsu. It grants the ability to change places with objects within a certain size** **and weight** **.**

 **Current range : 10m**

 **Casting time : 3 seconds**

 **[Bunshin No Jutsu (Active) LV 1 EXP: 0,00 % / CP : 20 per bunshin]  
One of the three basic Ninjutsu. The most basic Clone skill, it creates a number of immaterial clones, the clones are unable to make sound and are destroyed if something pass through them.**

 **Additional 10 CP per minute per bunshin**  
 **Casting time: 3 seconds.**

We trained nijutsu until midday, and the lesson ended. I returned home to eat lunch, even though I wasn't sure I needed it any more, with the [Gamer's Body].

Again, I trained during the afternoon, but didn't find a way to improve DEX. I was thinking about that when I got back home in the evening and was greeted.

"Hey, Kuro. So, you finally decided to move your ass, huh?"

I turned to find the owner of the voice and found a tall man in chûnin uniform, with spiky black short hair. He had brown eyes and was smoking a cigarette, his hands in his pockets, mocking me with a grin.

"Hey, dad." I smiled back at him.

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Fusoku Farasuke**

* * *

 **A/N: Next chapter in a few hours, probably.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Thank you for your support ! I hope you enjoy this.  
**

* * *

"How was your mission?" I asked as I briefly hugged my father.

"Boring. I had to escort some merchant in the land of Iron." Dad responded as I entered into our shop."Your mother told me you finally started your training! I must admit, I had nearly given up on your future ninja life. But now that you're motivated, we have a lot of work to catch up!"

"We?"

"We! Us! You didn't think I wouldn't help my son get back in shape?"

I smiled at that, and turned to him, my eyes glowing with determination.

"I don't think I was ever in shape." I chuckled. "But yeah, please train me."

"That's the spirit!" My father exclaimed.

"Not now though. I'm tired and I need to rest." I quickly added. "I must study every evening as well."

"Good." he approved, proud of me. "You keep your physical training, I can teach you if you come back an hour or so befor dinner."

"Okay, thanks."

"Dinner's ready!" mom shouted from the kitchen, and we ate talking about dad's mission, mom's day at the shop, and my 'discovery' at the academy.

"So, you can sense chakra…" my dad mused.

"No, in fact, I can just tell the amount." I corrected, finishing my plate.

"Interesting… I never heard about a chakra sensor that could only tell the quantity of chakra. That's a good point for you!"

"I don't think it's very useful if I must see the guy to tell though..."

"All right, Kuro-chan, if you don't eat any more, you'll have to go study for the exam!" mom gently reminded me.

I rolled my eyes at her, and offered my help before leaving: "I can wash the dishes if you want."

"Don't worry. Just get back to work!" My mom pressed me. She was acting strange, as if… she wanted me to go to talk to dad alone. I leaved, and started to study.

* * *

As the remaining days passed before the exam, I learned a lot of things a ninja should know in the ninja world, such as stealth, evasion techniques, etc. Sometimes, we sparred, and that way I managed to finally raise my dexterity and I learned taijutsu. To increase DEX I basically had to avoid blows, or be precise, or push my speed to maximum. I pushed my body to his limits too, but it became more and more difficult to increase my physical stats. My chakra too, but it was a lot less than STR and VIT. CKRC was becoming very difficult to augment as I completely perfected the leaf exercize until I didn't have to focus on it. My INT increased a little bit too, but my WIS stagnated at 13… I hadn't understood how to raise it. I got a few quests too, like 'help mom with the tailoring', or 'beat Sasuke in a spar' (which I failed lamentably) or the most important one:

 **Quest: Become a genin!**

 **Train hard and pass the graduation exam.**

 **Completion reward: 1000 XP, Genin rank, Headband,**

 **Completion failure: Disappointment of mom and dad**

That's a lot of XP! I'm sure I could get 2 levels with this quest alone.

Finally, it was the day before the test. I sighed as I woke up.

 **You have slept in your bed. HP, CP & Mp fully restored and all status effects removed.**

I closed the window and got up to eat breakfast. I greeted my parents when they showed up, and as I was enjoying my usual cereals, I looked at my status, quite proud of myself.

 **Name:** **Kurota Farazuke**  
 **Title** **: The Gamer**  
 **Level: LV** **4** **(** **12** **%)**  
 **HP:** **1** **154** **/** **1** **154**

 **CP:** **2600** **/** **2600**  
 **MP:** **2300** **/** **23** **00**  
 **STR:** **25 + 1,5** **= 26,5**  
 **VIT:** **24 + 1,44** **= 25,44**  
 **DEX:** **24 + 1,44** **= 25,44**

 **CKR:** **26**

 **CKRC:** **19**  
 **INT:** **23**  
 **WIS: 1** **3**  
 **POINTS:** **15**

I smiled as I looked at the red box. I had gotten my first skill that increased my stats some time ago:

 **[Academy Style Taijutsu(Passive & Active) LV13 13,2%]**

 **The basic taijutsu taught at the Konoha academy.** **A** **basic form of** **techniques** **involving the martial arts or the optimisation of natural human abilities.**

 **You can only have one taijutsu style skill active at a time.**

 **Passively increase STR, VIT and DEX by 6%.**

 **Additional 6% increase in STR, VIT and DEX while active.**

That wasn't very much considering it was level 13, but it was one of the weaker styles, and it was always nice to have an extra point in physic stats.

I finished breakfast, washed myself and went as usual to the academy, [Observe]ing every thing I didn't already [Observe]d, which wasn't much. [Observe] started showing the stats of people when it hit level 10, status effects at level 15, special conditions at level 20, and the best of the best: it told me emotions at level 25. It's really convenient, I can't wait for level 30…

I was thinking about not using it to much on people, to respect their privacy, when I noticed something on the Hokage monument.

It was painted, giving various nosebleeds, tears, and funny marks to the kages!

"Bwahaha, who the hell would do that?" I laughed, but I already knew the response. As I was squinting my eyes to get a better look, I noticed a little bit of orange painting the rest of the 1st hokage's head.

 _'Prank in piece, Naruto, because when Iruka-sensei will get you...you might not survive.'_ I thought amusingly, as I arrived at the academy.

We waited 30 minutes before Iruka-sensei showed up, with Naruto tied in ropes. He put him down and glared at him.

"Bah" Naruto mumbled as he was sitting on the floor in front of our teacher who looked quite pissed.

"Tomorrow is the ninja school's graduation exam. You have failed the last 2 times!" He shouted to him."This is no time to be causing trouble, MORON!"

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto said boringly, looking away.

This made the furious chunin snap.

"Time for a review on 'Henge No Jutsu'! Everyone line up!"

"WHAAAAAT!" The class shouted.

"Transform perfectly into me!" he ordered, ingnoring the protests.

Soon, everyone was waiting their turn to pass in front of Iruka-sensei, and I passed before Naruto.

"Nice prank just before." I praised him and he grinned, giving me a thumb up.

Iruka-sensei soon called me, and I did a perfect Henge at him.

"Ok, good. Next, Uzumaki Naruto!"he called as he nodded to me.

"This is all your fault." a random student reproched to Naruto as he advanced.

"Like I care." He mumbled, and transformed."Henge!"

There was a ' _poof'_ and a cloud of smoke popped; as it cleared, it revealed… a naked girl version of Naruto, who posed and winked at Iruka-sensei, throwing a flying kiss at him.

The poor teacher was suddenly taken by a huge nosebleed, and thrown back comically by his own blood stream. I was laughing my ass off at this, when the victim got up and covered his nose with a hanky.

"Hahahaahahaha! What do you think? I call it 'sexy no jutsu!" Naruto affirmed proudly, as he got back in his original form.

"YOU DUMBASS! DON'T INVENT STUPID SKILLS!" He yelled at him, using the 'gigantic head no jutsu', and I laughed again.

"You'll clean it all this afternoon." he stated and started the lesson.

When it finished, Naruto tried to sneak away, but Iruka-sensei was vigilant.

"Naruto! Remember you'll have to clean your mess!"the man reminded.

"Urgh..."

I went back home and ate lunch. Today was resting day, as my father wished, so I could be ready tomorrow. Of course, with the nature of my body and mind, I didn't need it, but I took it nonetheless.

I decided to go to the hokage monument help Naruto since I was free. Iruka-senei was there, making sure Naruto wouldn't get away. He was surprised when I offered help to clean the monument, and Naruto accepted gratefully.

"You're the best, Kurota!"He yelled happily.

I shrugged, and got to work. We finished at the end of the afternoon, and Naruto cried:

"Done, Iruka-sensei! Now, let's go to Ichiraku's!"

"Ichiraku's?" I repeated.

"Yeah! Come too, Kurota, they're making the best ramen in the city, and sensei is paying! Believe it!"

"Really? Sure, why not." I agreed, grinning to the chunin.

Iruka-sensei sighed loudly. His wallet will take a hit with all those ramens….

* * *

 **A/N:Next chapter tomorrow. Thank you for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Review replies : **

**gonefishern: I did the maths again in chapter 6, and I don't know where I got it wrong. I did 4% x CPmax + CKRC = 4% x 900 +2 = 38 per hour, and then I did 900/38 = 23.68 so he regen fully in about a day... maybe I didn't express the thing well? Or if I'm really wrong please explain me better, I don't want a mistake like that to carry through all the fic. Thank you for helping.**

 **I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

"Naruto… Why were you doing that at the monument? Don't you know who the hokages are?"

We were eating ramen at Ichiraku's, and Iruka-sensei wanted to know why he did such a prank. Well, I was curious too, so I kept quiet and listened, eating my noodles.

"Of course! Basically, those that receive the hokage name are the strongest ninjas in the villages, right? And among them is the 4th. A hero who saved the village from a fox demon." Naruto explained.

"Then why?"

"One day I'm going to get the hokage name… and then I'm going to surpass all the previous hokages!"

We stopped eating and looked fixedly at him, and Iruka-sensei even forgot to chew what he had in his mouth.

"And then, and then! I'll make the village recognize my strength! Believe it!"

Such confidence… He actually believed he could do it. Until now, I thought he didn't mean it and did that only to show off. Well, he had the chakra for it, but that's all, really, and I don't think his jinchuuriki status will help him… nor the hatred of the village for him. But even with all that… He made me want to believe in him.

"...By the way sensei… I have a request…"

"What? You want seconds?" Iruka-sensei sighed.

"No… Can I borrow your leaf head protector?"

"Oh, this? No no, this is for after your graduate. This is a symbol that you've come of age. Maybe you two will get one tomorrow."

"Stingy!" Naruto complained.

"Hahah, so that's why you removed your goggles!" I remarked, amused, as I just finished my bowl.

"SECONDS!"the blond yelled.

"For me too!"I agreed.

"Huh?!" Iruka-sensei protested, but Teuchi, the old man owning the restaurant, was already at work.

* * *

The day after, we were in the academy classroom as usual, listening to Iruka-sensei.

"Now for the graduation exam, you will do the bunshin no jutsu. When you are called, come to the next room." the teacher explained, and entered the room with Mizuki. What? There wasn't even a written test or a taijutsu test? I turned to see Naruto's expression, completely devastated. His worst jutsu, the bunshin, that required fine chakra control. He couldn't do it because of his unbelievebly high chakra reserves…. That just wasn't fair.

"Farasuke, Kurota." Iruka-sensei called me. I got up, and went to the room and performed 5 bunshins perfectly.

"Amazing, Kurota-kun! You must have worked hard to catch up to the others like that! Here."He gave me the Konoha headband."You are now a genin! Congratulations. Next!"

 **+1000XP**

 **Your level has risen by 2!**

I didn't even acknowledged the reward as I made my way out of the room, worrying for Naruto. I got outside the academy and waited with the others who graduated.

"What! _You_ graduated? What the fuck! You were competing with Naruto for the deadlast's position!"

The owner of this annoying voice was Inuzuka Kiba.

"Yeah. Got a problem with that?" I asked nonchalently.

"What? You want to fight?" He dared me, Akamaru groaning at me.

Now he was pissing me off. I started to open my mouth to put him in his place when I heard Iruka's voice raising from the exam room:

"You fail!"

Shortly after, Naruto walked outside the building, his eyes hidden under his golden hair, and sat on the swing to watch the crowd of student that graduated. Kiba was going to mock him too, but I squished his foot before he could say anything.

"Aah! Hey, watch it!"He cried.

I walked to Naruto, not paying attention to the 'alpha male', but I heard two voices calling me.

"Hey Kuro-chan! Congratulations!"

"You passed, son. Welcome to the ninja world."

My parents were praising me, great. Naruto was eyeing me sadly. I turned to them, and I noticed that all the students were finished with the exam... only Naruto didn't make it.

"Ah, you're here. Thanks for coming. I'm sorry, but I need to talk to someone right now." I excused myself and restarted to walk, but a hand was put on my shoulders as I was halfway.

"You don't mean _him_ , do you?" My mother was staring at me with wide eyes, clearly worrying for me as if I was risking my life or something.

"I _mean_ him. What's the matter?" I questioned, narrowing my eyes at her.

"Look, you must not talk to him. I can't tell you, but he's a real monster. It's better if he doesn't graduate. Come back with me." my mother advised kindly.

I noticed there was a lot of people staring, listening to us, waiting for me to rejoin them, as if it was the right decision. I turned my eyes at my father, who was staring at me concerned but didn't stop me. I looked at Iruka-sensei and the Hokage, who came congratulate the new genins.

"He's not a monster. He's my friend." I stated simply, not only to mom, but also to all the crowd behind her, and I restarted to walk. She gasped.

"You can't! I… I forbid you!" she cried.

I froze at that, and turned my head to look over my shoulder.

"I'm a ninja now, so I'm technically an adult. I don't think you can forbid me anything any more." I said coldly, and loud enough for everybody to hear. It would hurt her, and it hurt me… but that was the right thing to do. I briefly looked at my father who was still staring, but I had the feeling that he respected my decision.

I returned to my walk and joined Naruto, sitting on the ground next to him. There were tears on his cheeks and he didn't want to look at me, so I waited patiently, watching with him everybody leaving. My parents were the last, and when I glared at my mother, dad slowly took her hand and started walking away. Eventually, they left, and I turned to Naruto.

"Sorry for my parents."I started.

"Why? Why did you do that? They loved you, and yet..."he didn't finished his sentence, shocked that I turned them down.

"Why?" I repeated."I said it before. Because we're friends, and because it's right. I wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror if I left with them."

"Thank you."he muttered, looking down again.

"And this exam is a fucking joke! Only a bunshin for the test? They know you can't do it because of your massive chakra reserve and yet they let this happen?"

"Because of my chakra?" he said, confused.

"Yes! You can't do jutsus that require a little bit of control because you have too much chakra. Just you wait, I'm going to talk to the hokage about this. Like, right now." I spoke angrily as I got up."Just wait. I'm going to convince him, and you'll become Hokage!"

And with that, I left him and went to the Hokage tower. On the way, I met Sasuke, who surprisingly gave me a respectful nod. I returned it and continued.

"I want to speak to the hokage." I requested to the secretary.

"I'm sorry, he's currently in a meeting with..."

"I don't care." I groaned angrily, and before she could protest I made my way to his office.

"Hokage-sama! I want to talk to you…." I stopped and remarked another person in the room.

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Danzo Shimura**

"Who is this child, hokage-sama?" the man asked coldly.

"Kurota-kun. I'm sorry but I can't talk to you right now. I suggest you leave."the Sandaime kindly advised.

I looked at the old man, and met his gaze. He shook imperceptibly his head, and warned me of something with his eyes. I stared at the man named Danzo, I heard he had a lot of influence in the village council… Maybe I should leave them. I can always come back later.

"Hai, hokage-sama " I bowed, and the creepy guy narrowed his eyes at me, following me with his glare as I was leaving.

I'll rejoin Naruto for now. I'll talk to the Hokage later.

When I went back to the swing, he wasn't there. Damn it! Why everything was always so difficult?

I searched for him all day, but didn't find him. He wasn't to his house, nor at Ichiraku's. When the night fell, I didn't stop myself, too worried about Naruto's state of mind. What if he thought I abandoned him? ' _I must find him before he commit suicide or something.'_ I thought darkly.

Suddenly, I got an idea. I must find Naruto. Who was the better to find Naruto? Iruka-sensei of course!

It took me some time to find his address and to arrive in front of his house. When I knocked at the door, I was panting.

"Kurota-kun? What are you doing here?" He asked me, clearly surprised.

"I need your help to find Naruto." I requested, looking at him in the eyes.

Suddenly, Mizuki arrived landing on the ground and yelled at Iruka:

"We must go to hokage-sama's place! Naruto has taken the scrolls of the forbidden seals!"

… What?

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading! Longuest chapter so far ! Next chapter in a few hours, I think.  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **I hope you enjoy this.**

* * *

"He won't get away with this one!"

"Hokage-sama!"

Iruka, Mizuki and I were listening to the various chunin's and jonin's complaints and waiting for the Hokage to talk in front of his house.

"Yes, those are dangerous scrolls forbidden by the previous hokage. If used in certain ways, it can cause incredible trouble. Its been half a day since the scroll was taken. We must hurry and find Naruto to retrieve the scroll!"

"Yes!" All the ninjas shouted and jumped at high speed, except me, of course, the new little genin.

"Kurota-kun…" The hokage sighed. "You should go home. Your parents must be worried."

"No way. I'm going to search for him too."I affirmed, and prepared to go.

"Wait. Since you're going to search for him, I'll give you your first mission. Find Naruto, discover why he stole the forbidden scroll and escort him back to the Hokage tower. Be careful."

I nodded and left, beginning to search for all the places where he could be. After a long moment, a flash of inspiration took hold of me, and I opened my status window, dumping all my points into WIS, taking it to 38. I felt a sudden headache, as if my brain was being altered, but after a few seconds it finished. I shook my head, and thought for a few seconds to all the places I'd searched, Naruto's habits… If I stole a scroll and chunins and jonins were after me, where would I go? My eyes widened as I came to the conclusion:

"The forest..."

I quickly made my way to the forest, hoping I was right.

I finally found Naruto, along with Iruka, who was badly injured. He had kunais stuck all over his body and legs, and was bleeding. They were facing Mizuki who was standing on a tree branch. I decided to remain hidden for now, to find out what was going on.

"… Mizuki used you in order to get his hands on it!" Iruka was shouting to Naruto.

Hearing that, he flexed his legs, making him ready to jump away, and glared at Mizuki.

"Naruto…" Mizuki grinned."There's no point in you having it. I'll tell you the truth."

"N… No! Don't!" Iruka shouted angrily.

"12 years ago… you know about the fox being sealed right?"he began, ignoring Iruka." Since that incident, a new rule was created for this village."

"… A rule?" Naruto repeated, confused.

"But… Naruto, this rule was never meant to be told to you."

"...Not to me? What is this rule? Why?" the blond shouted as Mizuki sneered at him. "What… kind of rule is it?"

"It is that nobody is allowed to talk about the fact that _you_ are the demon fox!"

"Huh? What do you mean?!"

"STOP IT!" Iruka cried.

"It means that _you_ are the nine tails demon that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village. You were sealed up by the hokage you admire and…"

"STOP IT!" Iruka desperately shouted.

"You have been lied to by everyone! Didn't you find it odd how everyone hated you?" Naruto closed his eyes, beginning to understand everything… or misunderstand everything…

Mizuki took advantage of his lack of vision and held a big shuriken in his right hand, spinning it rapidly. My eyes widened, I had to intervene now.

"IRUKA IS THE SAME! HE ACTUALLY HATES YOU!" The traitor screamed madly, and threw the giant shuriken. "NOBODY WILL EVER ACCEPT YOU! THAT SCROLL WAS USED TO SEAL YOU UP!"

The giant shuriken approached rapidly, and…

Pain. A lot of pain. I never felt so much pain. I saw my HP take huge hit, lowering it to below 500, and it continued to reduce… 497… 494…

 **[Physical Resitance]'s level has risen by one!**

"You're wrong…" I stated as Iruka and Naruto was staring at me with wide eyes, truly shocked. "Naruto is the prison… not the prisoner."

I fell on the ground, panting.

"Kurota-kun!"

"Hehehe… you see, Naruto? Just how much pain you bring around you..." He turned to Iruka and me. "You're idiots. Why are you helping him? Naruto and I are the same, there's no way that fox wouldn't try to use the power of the scroll."

"The demon fox would do that, but Naruto, you're different! You're one of my excellent students! You're Uzumaki Naruto!" Iruka proclaimed, and now Naruto was crying.

"Ok, whatever. Hurry up and die!" Mizuki began attacking Iruka, who couldn't defend himself very well because of his injuries.

"Naruto, take Kurota and run away!" Iruka desperately shouted.

"Don't touch them… I'll kill you!" Naruto groaned.

"Ha! A punk like you I'll kill in one shot!" Mizuki laughed.

"Try it trash! I'll return the pain a thousand times over!"

"THEN DO IT, DEMON FOX!"

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

Suddenly, there was dozens of Narutos everywhere, surrounding us.

"Holy shit… That's a lot of bunshins…" I mumbled, before coughing blood. I would have certainly blacked out if it wasn't for the [Gamer's Mind] right now.

Naruto promptly beat up Mizuki, and after that, Iruka carried me to the hospital with Naruto.

"Medic-nins! Now!" He shouted when he arrived, and once he was sure I was taken in charge, he left with Naruto to the Hokage tower. Naruto protested, but I reassured him when I gave him a weak thumb up with a smile.

The medic-nins put me on a bed on the belly, and started healing my back with their techniques.

Eventually, they transported me to a room and left me to sleep.

* * *

I woke up in the morning, feeling perfectly fine, and I grinned when I saw the blue rectangle appearing in front of me.

 **You have slept in your bed. HP, CP & MP fully restored and all status effects removed.**

This is so OP. In one night of sleep in a bed, I regenerate completely. I'm going to have a hard time explaining that…

I noticed Naruto was sleeping in a chair on the other side of the room, and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw his headband on his legs. I got up and quietly changed, finding my clothes in a nearly closet. It was 1:00 pm, so I figured I could wake him up.

I was approaching him, but the door suddenly opened and a nurse entered the room. When she saw me, she gasped and began to lecture me:

"What are you doing! You must properly rest after such an injury!"

"I'm fine, I'm completely rested. Don't worry."

"No you're not! Even if we healed you completely, the body still needs to rest properly! Now, get back into bed!" She shouted.

"Kurotaaaa!" I heard another voice raise behind me. "I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

I turned to Naruto and answered him. "Yes, don't worry."

"No, you're not! You _must_ rest!" The nurse once again disagreed.

I let out an exaggerated sigh to let her know just how much she annoyed me.

Then, two more people entered the room, Iruka and the hokage.

"I see that you're doing well, Kurota-kun." the sandaime chuckled, as I was surrounded by Naruto and Iruka. "But you must understand that you need to rest so that your body completely heal."

Finally, I surrendered, and got back into bed, causing the nurse to leave.

"I'm sorry, Kuro… If I had waited for you..."Naruto apologized, looking down.

"Blame Mizuki for that."I replied.

"When did you learn about the fox?" Naruto started.

"Kurota knew since two weeks ago."The hokage answered. "And he didn't tell you because I asked him not to."

"I see..." Naruto mused. Since he didn't ask other questions, like, concerning his jinchuuriki status, I deduced that they must have explained everything to him already.

"Kurota… I'm sorry I failed to protect you from Mizuki." Iruka apologized too.

"Don't worry about it. I knew there was something fishy with him." I said, embarrassed.

"There will be team assignments tomorrow at 9:00 am" Iruka informed me. "You will be put in a team under a jonin sensei."

"Maybe we'll end up together, Kuro! With Sakura-chan it would be the perfect team!" Naruto yelled happily.

"Ah, yes, congratulations for your graduation! But Haruno? I don't know what you see in her. She's smart but she's always hurting you, when she's not too busy worshipping Sasuke."

Naruto was going to defend her, but a doctor came in and interrupted us.

"I'm sorry, but Farasuke-san must rest." I rolled my eyes at this. "I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave."he continued.

After wishing me a good rest, they left me by myself in the room. The window was wide open, and I could hear children playing outside, birds singing, the village's overflowing with life, calling me outside to freedom…

I turned my eyes to my clothes on the chair and grinned.

* * *

 **A/N: So the first arc is finished! I'll post a list of Kurota's skills along with his status soon. Thank you all for reading!**


	11. Kurota's stats and skills after Chpt 10

**Here is a recap of Kurota's status and skills.**

* * *

 **S** **tatus window :**

 **Name:** **Kurota Farazuke**  
 **Title** **: The Gamer**  
 **Level: LV** **6** **(** **12** **%)**  
 **HP:** **1** **154** **/** **1** **154**

 **CP:** **2600** **/** **2600**  
 **MP:** **2300** **/** **23** **00**  
 **STR:** **25 + 1,5** **= 26,5**  
 **VIT:** **24 + 1,44** **= 25,44**  
 **DEX:** **24 + 1,44** **= 25,44**

 **CKR:** **26**

 **CKRC:** **19** **  
INT:** **23** **  
WIS: 38** **  
POINTS:0**

* * *

 **Other stats:**

 **Hp regen : 11.51 per hour  
**

 **CP regen : 123 per hour  
**

 **Mp regen : 87.4 per minute  
**

* * *

 *****Skills (Obtention order)*****

* * *

 **[Gamer's mind (passive) LvMAX]**

 **Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through.**

 **Allows peaceful state of mind.**

 **Immunity to psychological status effects.**

* * *

 **[Gamer's body (passive) LvMAX]**

 **Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game.**

 **After sleep in a bed the user recover all HP, CP and MP.**

* * *

 **[Dish Washing (passive) Lv5 EXP: 82,7%]**

 **A technique to wash dishes.**

 **With more mastery, you can clean any dirty spots.**

 **15% increase in dish washing speed.**

* * *

 **[Physical Resistance (passive)Lv5 EXP: 2,07%]**

 **The body's durability and toughness increase and you take less damage.**

 **5% decrease in damage from physical attacks.**

* * *

 **[Henge No Jutsu (Active) Lv26 EXP: 54,00% / CP: 37]**

 **One of the three basic Ninjutsu. It allows the user to change his shape to something or someone that he can picture clearly.**

 **Additional 8 CP per 1 minute**

 **Casting time: 1,7 seconds**

* * *

 **[Observe (Active) Lv27 EXP: 43,7%]**

 **A skill to find the target's information.**

 **More information are revealed as this skill level up.**

* * *

 **[Throwing Weapons Mastery (Passive) LV 17 EXP: 8,42%]  
Allows the user to use thrown weapons such as kunais, shuriken, senbon or more with skill and precision. As the skill grows, more projectiles can be thrown simultaneously. Range and projectile speed improve with STR. Precision improve with DEX. **

**22% increased damage when you throw something.**

 **40% increased projectile speed.**

* * *

 **[Tailoring (Passive) Lv38 EXP: 3,04%]**

 **A crafting skill to make clothes. You're able to make or adapt cloth to suit yourself.**

 **Crafted clothes become better as mastery level rises.**

* * *

 **[Crafting (Passive) Lv9 EXP: 29,5%]**

 **A skill to make something. Humanity has advanced their civilization through inventing things. Crafted objects become better as mastery level rises.**

 **45 % increase efficiency in crafting type skills**

 **Known crafting skills: Tailoring Lv37**

* * *

 **[** **Kawarimi No Jutsu** **(Active) LV** **25** **EXP:** **0,00** **% / CP:** **75** **]  
** **One of the three basic Ninjutsu. An incredibl** **y** **useful defensive jutsu. It grants the ability to change places with objects within a certain size** **and weight** **.**

 **Current range : 35m**

 **Casting time : 1,75 seconds**

* * *

 **[Bunshin No Jutsu (Active) LV 26 EXP: 0,00 % / CP : 15 per bunshin]  
One of the three basic Ninjutsu. The most basic Clone skill, it creates a number of immaterial clones, the clones are unable to make sound and are destroyed if something pass through them.**

 **Additional 8 CP per minute per bunshin.**

 **Casting time: 1,7 seconds.**

* * *

 **[Academy Style Taijutsu(Passive & Active) LV13 EXP:13,2%]**

 **The basic taijutsu taught at the Konoha academy.** **A** **basic form of** **techniques** **involving the martial arts or the optimisation of natural human abilities.**

 **You can only have one taijutsu style skill active at a time.**

 **Passively increase STR, VIT and DEX by 6%.**

 **Additional 6% increase in STR, VIT and DEX while active.**

* * *

 **[Stealth(Passive) LV6 EXP:46,3%]**

 **The art of being unnoticed. A staple of ninjas, this skill permits the user to blend in crowds and sneak up on enemies.**

 **You're less likely to be noticed by people when sneaking on them.**

 **Efficiency increases with skill level, WIS and DEX.**

* * *

 **If you have questions, feel free to ask, I'll answer next chapter.**


	12. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **A/N: Thank you all for your support! I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

The first thing I did when I went outside is go home to talk to my parents. They must know Naruto isn't a monster. Well, my father seemed to understand, but my mother… That was another thing.

"I'm home." I called when I arrived.

"Kurota! Are you okay? You should be resting at the hospital!" my mother hugged me briefly, and I sighed.

"Not you, too..." I groaned.

"I'm sorry. Your sensei came at home and explained Naruto's situation to us, and we already apologized to him… Poor child, he must have a tough life..."

"Ah… So you understand that he's the kyuubi's prison, and he keeps it from destroying the village?" I asked carefully.

"Yes. It was a mistake, and I'm sorry for causing a scene yesterday."

"And dad? He understands too?"

"Yes." a voice came from the entrance. I turned and my father was here, staring at us.

"I knew he was just a prison, but when I see him… I'm reminded of that day, when the demon fox killed my teammates… So I don't like being around him. But I don't have anything against him."

"I see..."

"More importantly, shouldn't you be resting at the hospital?" my father teased me, to my annoyance.

"Damn it… Why everyone keeps telling me this… I feel completely fine. It's not like I'm going to train." I claimed.

"Of course not. Oh, by the way, your sensei left this for you."He said, giving me a small envelop.

I opened it and inside was… 20000 ryos!

"It's your pay for your first C-rank mission! I must admit, son, you don't waste time!"dad proudly ruffled my hair.

"But… Iruka-sensei did all the job..."I protested.

"That's why he got the other half of the pay. Hokage-sama said that you both succeeded in this mission, protecting Naruto and retrieving him." Dad explained.

"Woa… cool..." I whispered. Just 10000 more and I can buy the weights!

After lunch, I spent the afternoon doing paperwork for new genins and resting.

* * *

The day after, when I entered for the last time in the academy classroom, I was surprised to see Naruto sitting next to Sasuke.

"Hi guys." I greeted.

Naruto greeted me and Sasuke gave me a small nod. It was quite strange to be the only guy whose Sasuke recognised the existence. I sit between Naruto and Sasuke, and waited for Iruka to arrive.

"Huh? Naruto, what the hell are you doing here? Only those who pass are supposed to be here." Kiba Inuzuka asked to Naruto.

"Hey, hey, can't you see this head protector?" Naruto replied, grinning widely.

"Naruto! Move your ass! I want to sit on the other side of you!" Sakura arrived in all her splendor, angrily yelling as usual.

"Huh?" Naruto looked at Sasuke, and then at me.

"I'm on the other side of him."I stated simply.

"Leave me your seat! I want to sit next to Sasuke!"

"No, let _me_ sit next to him!" Ino Yamanaka joined the party too, and the 2 Uchiha-Fangirls glared at each other.

"Wait. Let me ask him."I said, grinning, and turned my head to the Uchiha. "Sasuke, do you want either of those girls to sit in my place?"

Sasuke looked at me, and glared at the girls.

"No." He responded plainly and unaffectedly.

"Ah… I'm sorry, but it seems Sasuke doesn't want you to sit in my place." I declared to them, smiling apologetically.

"What? B-But…" Sakura mumbled, but Iruka entered the room and interrupted her.

"Please sit down everyone."

The girls groaned, but sat behind us.

"Beginning today all of you are real ninjas… But you are still merely rookie "genin". The hard part has just started. Now… you will be assigned duties by the village. So today we will be creating the 3 man teams and each team will have a Jounin sensei. You will follow that sensei's instructions as you complete the assigned duties."He explained to us.

"We tried to balance each team's strength." He then told us each team's composition.

"Next, team 7… Haruno Sakura… Uzumaki Naruto..."

"Hell yes!" Naruto shouted.

"Damn..."Sakura groaned.

"… and Uchiha Sasuke.

"Hell yes!"Sakura shouted.

"Damn..." Naruto groaned, and he protested:" Iruka-sensei! Why does an outstanding ninja like me have to be on the same team as that bum?!"

"Sasuke's grades were the first among all 27 graduates… Naruto… You were the last. We have to do this to balance the teams, understand?" Iruka explained severely.

"Bah… Just don't get in my way." Sasuke declared arrogantly, whereas Naruto gritted his teeth. "Deadlast."

"What did you call me?!" Naruto shouted angrily.

"Give it a rest, Naruto!" Sakura shouted, and hit him on the head. Iruka continued as if everything was normal.

"Team 8… Farasuke Kurota… Hinata Hyuga..."

I looked at the shy girl at the back of the room, and nodded at her. She returned it shyly, and looked down.

"...and Inuzuka Kiba."

Ugh… of course, they put me in Kiba's team for the same reason they put Naruto in Sasuke's team : Kiba and Hinata had way better grades than me back when I hadn't… when I wasn't… The Gamer.

I looked at him, and saw he wasn't very pleased either… But we'll have to get along eventually.

"Ok… Now we'll introduce the jounin senseis. I'll call each team and they'll follow their own sensei."

He began to call each team, and the room slowly emptied.

"Team 7… Your sensei will be late. Team 8, your sensei will be Kurenai Yuuhi."

A fair-skinned woman took a step forward, distinguishing herself of the other jounins. She had long black untamed hair, and very unique red eyes, with an additional circle in them.

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Kurenai Yuuhi**

"Gotta go, see ya Naruto."I get up and joined her with my new teammates.

When we reached her, she smiled at us lead us to a small park, where we seat on the grass and faced her.

"So … let's begin with introductions." She began, smiling at us. "Do you know each other?"

"No." Kiba replied.

"Vaguely." I said.

"Y-yes." Hinata answered.

 _'Haha, that doesn't help her at all… '_ I thought as she raised an eyebrow at us.

"Anyway, I'd like to get to know each of you, so please tell me about yourselves. I'll start… My name is Kurenai Yuhi, and I recently became jounin. I'm a specialist in genjutsu. I like to study psychology and to attend tea ceremonies. I dislike loud people and sexist people. My ambition is to make the three of you into fine ninjas and become a successful reconnaissance specialized team."

A reconnaissance specialized team… Well, Kiba had good tracking skills with his nose and Hinata too with her eyes. But me? I had nothing… Why am I in this team?

Ah… The whole 'chakra sensor' thing. They probably think I can develop this sense by training or something. The problem is, I can't.

I looked at my teammates, and as I suspected, Kiba spoke the first:

"I am Inuzuka Kiba. I like to hang out with Akamaru, and to fight. I dislike people who hurt animals. My ambition is to become the head of my clan."

I stared at Hinata, and seeing that she wouldn't speak, I presented myself.

"My name is Farasuke Kurota. I used to like to play video games, but I'm not really into it those days. I dislike people who think I'm a good for nothing because I play games." I glared at Kiba, who had the decency to look away. "I don't have any real ambition, besides learning to do new things and maybe surpass my father. Ah, I want to help Naruto become Hokage, too."

Now everyone turned their look to Hinata, who blushed and turned her fingers awkwardly.

"I-I am Hinata Hyuga. I like... p-people who are con-confident. I dislike… people who b-bully others. My ambition is...to be acknowledge by my d-dad... and so-someone else."

Kurenai-sensei nodded slowly, evaluating us. "Good. I'm going to test your capabilities, to see if you truly deserve to be a genin, so meet me at training ground 4. You all know where it is?"

We nodded.

"Try to find me there. You have 2 hours." she told us. She formed a hand seal and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

 **A/N: I apologize to all the Shino-fans. I couldn't break team 7, nor team 10, and if I fired Kiba, the team would have been way to quiet. And moving Hinata was out of the question, of course. I considered creating a whole new team with two others OC, but I didn't think I could handle it : I already have difficulties with Kurota alone... Next chapter in a few hours.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Thank you all for your support! I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

"Well. Let's work together to find her!" I proposed to my teammates.

Hinata and Kiba nodded. "Let's go already." the Inuzuka pressed impatiently.

It took us 10 minutes to reach training ground 4. There, Kiba smelled multiples scents every where. Of course, she would have spilt her smell… and Kiba's sense or Akamaru's wasn't accurate enough to determine where exactly she was, apparantly. Hinata activated her byakugan, and after a few minutes, she found our sensei in a small forest.

 _'That was easy…'_ I thought, as we got to her. _'too easy…'_ I was right, because when we were halfway, Hinata remarked:

"Um… I-I see her in the… opposite direction too."

"A bunshin?" Kiba asked.

"N-No. Byakugan can d-differentiate bunshins… from t-the original."

In a flash, I saw again Naruto's clones in the forest beating up Mizuki. Those hadn't been simple bunshins… What did he called them again?

"Kage bunshin..." I muttered.

"What? Is it another type of bunshin?" Kiba questioned, forwning.

"Yeah… I don't know much about it, but it's solid clones. Maybe the byakugan can't tell the difference."

"So what do we do?" Kiba demanded.

First, I recommended:

"Hinata, you should disable your byakugan. She's trying to make you use all your chakra. She must be spamming clones somewhere to mislead us."

Hinata followed my advice and closed her eyes.

"How long can you keep your dojutsu activated?" I asked Hinata.

"Um… m-maybe 20 minutes..." she answered looking down.

"I see…" I thought for a bit, making good use of my 38 WIS. "Can you activate it just a few seconds to check sensei's clone's position, and lead us there? She can't keep using clones like that, and she'll run out of chakra eventually. Plus, one of them is real."

"Y-yes..." she agreed.

We kept searching like this, and there were mostly two to three clones at a time. We continued like that for a moment, and finally there was only one clone left.

"Finally. Let's go!" Kiba yelled excitedly at us, and we arrived at the destination, but there wasn't anything.

"Hinata?" I requested.

"Um… I-I'm sorry… I d-don't have enough c-chakra anymore." she declared looking down.

"That's okay. She was in the area..." I mused and scanned the meadow.

"Damn it. She spilt her smell here too..." Kiba gritted his teeth.

"She's probably under an invisibility genjutsu anyway." I retorted.

I began [Observe]ing each area of the field. It took me a moment, but finally, when I observed a tree on the other side of the prairie, a window told me:

 **[Observe]'s level is to low to get the target's information.**

I smirked. "Found her!" I called Hinata who didn't know what to do and Kiba who was trying to smell our sensei at the opposite side of her.

I walked to the tree, grinning all the way. [Observe] was actually usable on invisible objects and people under genjutsu! That was certainly useful.

"You can come out sensei. We found you." I said to the tree, who didn't react. Hinata was staring the tree, confused, and Kiba was sceptical. I sighed, took out a shuriken and thrown it at the tree. Instead of getting stuck in wood, a hand appeared and caught it expertly.

"Congratulations." Kurenai came out of the tree. "I must say, I'm impressed. Even with skills like yours, I thought you would take longer to find me… if you only managed to." She grinned. "Hinata-chan, good utilisation of your byakugan. Switching it on and off allowed you to last much longer that you normally would. "Hinata blushed at that, mumbling something about 'not my idea'. "Kiba-kun, You need to sharpen your nose to tell the difference between clones." The dog-man pouted. "And Kurota-kun, I don't know how you did it, because I suppressed entirely my chakra, but you managed to detect me. Impressive." I grinned a her, accepting the compliment.

"I think you'll make a wonderful reconnaissance team!" She praised us.

I scratched the back of my head, smiling. Kiba seemed to be accepting his weakness, and Hinata blushed, as usual.

"Now, let's see how well you fight." She continued, and Kiba started smirking. "You will all spar for a few minutes against me. Kiba-kun and Akamaru, you're first, since you seem to be eager to start."

Hinata and I sat on the ground and watched the 3 others get ready in a fight stance.

Kiba attacked first, with Akamaru on his side. As he arrived near Kurenai, he attempted to throw a jab at her, but she quickly deviated it. He then enchained with all kind of punches and kicks, working with Akamaru to surprise her.

"He's doing well." I commented, and Hinata nodded politely.

For a moment, she seemed trapped between the two, but she simply jumped above the dog, who crashed in his master's legs.

"All right, that'll be all. Your taijutsu is fine, and you have good speed and strength along with a bit of teamwork with your dog. Maybe you should use more bukijutsu."

"Next, Hinata-chan." she gently called.

Hinata get up, and got into a stance I didn't recognised.

"The jyuken, the gentle fist." Kiba told me when he noticed my confused glance. As the two started fighting, he explained to me: "My family told me they inflicts damage through attacking the inside of the body. Even the slight touch can do a lot of damage."

"All right, that's useless. Let's stop here." Kurenai-sensei stated. "You can't fight without your byakugan activated, since you can't target my chakra's pathway system. But you seems to have very good speed. You need to learn to fight without your byakugan, and, same as Kiba, maybe use more bukijutsu. "

"Kurota-kun. Your turn."

I got up, and took the stance of the Academy taijutsu style to face her. I started by throwing 4 surikens at her, and charged her. She took my attacks well, deflecting them, avoiding them, and parring them perfectly. When I saw this was useless, I retreated back, while throwing shurikens at her accurately. While she caught them, I ran through hand seals as fact as I could.

"Henge No Jutsu!" There was a loud _'poof'_ and a large cloud of smoke appeared around me. I could have done it without that much smoke, but the purpose _was_ to generate smoke. I didn't stop the hand seals here, and used Kawarimi No Jutsu on a shuriken behind Kurenai-sensei after leaving a bunshin behind.

At first, Kurenai didn't understand, and Kiba began mocking me when my bunshin emerged from the smoke. But when she looked closer, she widened her eyes and dived to the side, avoiding the right hook I tried from behind her. I threw another shuriken at her, and she parried it while in mid air before landing graciously.

"Okay." Kurenai stopped me as I was flexing my legs to restart the fight. "You have low strength and low speed, but your taijutsu academy style is perfect, maybe a little too perfect. Since I knew all the academy's movements, I could predict your moves, so try to vary and to be unpredictable. However, you tried a little tactic making good use of the three basic ninjutsus, and you managed to surprise me. Very good point."

"Thanks." I said as I relaxed and the other two got up.

"I think you passed the test, even though I still have to see Hinata-chan at her best." she declared casually.

"The test?" Kiba repeated.

"Oh, I didn't tell you? This was a test to determine if I should send you back to the academy ot keep you, and you passed, congratulations!"

"What!" Kiba shouted.

"I see… You wanted to test our determination, so you didn't tell us it was a test to see if we were willing to do our best in training." I guessed.

"Exactly." She confirmed, nodding pleasantly at me. "Now, we need to celebrate! Let's go to the restaurant!"

"Okay, but you're buying. It's only right after lying to us like that." Kiba growled.

"K-Kiba-kun!" Hinata protested, and I chuckled and agreed with Kiba.

"Okay, I'll buy this time." Kurenai sighed. "But don't eat too much."

Kiba and I exchanged a glance, and quickly looked away, grinning and trying not to laugh at her naivety.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading! Next chapter tomorrow, maybe this evening if I'm in the mood.**


	14. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Review replies:**

 **IceSandwich: Thank you for your support! I really appreciate it. Now I can't really answer what you asked, it would be spoiling wouldn't it? :)  
**

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 **I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

A routine took place quickly, and I got bored of life.

D-rank-missions. Just D-rank-missions, only D-rank missions… Planting seeds, repainting walls, taking care of plants, or babysitting… The good point is that I learned a few skills while doing it, and I get about 500 XP or so for doing a mission. Kiba was always groaning, and I started to suspect that his patience wasn't going to last long… Hinata-chan didn't complained, but I suspected she was bored too.

It's been a week since we became genins, and I had slowed my training. It's not like I had a graduation exam that will determine my life in a few days after all. I has asked Kurenai-sensei on chakra control exercises, and she suggested the Climbing Tree exercise. Not climbing trees normally of course, but without using the hands, and walking on a tree while focusing a stream of chakra to the feet. As soon as she demonstrated the thing to me, I learned it.

 **[Tree Walking(Active) Lv5 EXP: 46% / 19 CP per minute]**

 **A training method used to gain more skills with chakra control. This training involves focusing a fixed amount of chakra to the bottom of one's feet, and using that to climb a tree without using one's hands.**

 **While active, you can walk on solid surfaces.**

 **Passively increases CKRC by 2,5%**

I practised it a bit every evening. But in reality, I was waiting for the end of the week… The last day of each week, we took the day off. I was excited because I needed to do some special training.

To figure out how to use mana.

And that was today.

I was sitting on the ground in the forest where Naruto kicked Mizuki's ass, and I had huge expectations.

So… how exactly does it work? Do I need to feel it or something? I thought about it during the week, but I never figured it out really.

"Status."

 **S** **tatus window :**

 **Name:** **Kurota Farazuke**  
 **Title** **: The Gamer**  
 **Level: LV** **9** **(** **23,7** **%)**  
 **HP:** **1** **1** **75** **/** **1** **1** **75**

 **CP:** **2600** **/** **2600**  
 **MP:** **2300** **/** **23** **00**  
 **STR:** **2** **7+** **1,62** **= 2** **8** **,** **62**  
 **VIT:** **2** **6 +** **1,56=** **27,56**  
 **DEX:** **2** **5** **\+ 1,44=** **26,5**

 **CKR:** **28**

 **CKRC:** **22 + 0,55 = 22,55** **  
INT:** **2** **4** **  
WIS:** **38** **  
POINTS:** **15**

Yeah, I had been a little lazy this week. I didn't grind like a madman like before the graduation exam, and I don't think I'll do it again anyway.

I looked at the mana bar, frowning. [Observe] didn't revealed anything more than last time.

Maybe… If mana stats were calculated on the base of INT and WIS, I'll need to be… smart? To use my brain?

I looked at my hand, and tried to gather mana in it. Of course, the predictable result was that I gathered chakra… I retried, and this time, I didn't moved my chakra. This was a lot more difficult because I had to keep track of my chakra flow. I concentrated on my hand, trying to fill it with mana with all my brains, and my face approached slowly my hand…

Nothing. There was nothing happening.

This frustrated me, and I got up and shook my hand madly, as if I expected something to get out of it. Nothing happened, of course.

I tried and tried again for a few hours, and eventually I gave up. I'll try when I'll be smarter, I guess.

The experiment was a failure... That kinda disappointed me a lot.

I returned in a bad mood to the D-ranks missions. Sometimes, I joined Naruto at Ichiraku's to take news of him. Naturally, he was bored too.

* * *

2 months passed, and I keep failing at using mana, even though I had raised my INT at 30. I was now level 16 and had 35 stats points, but I didn't used them because they can always serve in urgent matters. When I hit level 10, I could see that my dad was level 60, and he had the title 'Expert in Katon Ninjutsu'. I'll need to ask him to teach me some fire jutsus some day. He is the most high level chuunin I had seen around.

So, I could see levels of people up to 50 more than me… That was useful to know.

I learned a bit of genjutsu, too. Now that I think about it, there's so much to learn when you're a ninja... I plan to learn medical jutsus and fuinjutsu too, along with a better taijutsu style, and of course some fire ninjutsu...

But today, I was heading to the hokage's tower with Kiba, Hinata-chan and Kurenai-sensei, to report from another boring D-rank mission today. When we arrived, we crossed team 7's path.

"Hey Naruto. How's it going?"I saluted him.

"G-good afternoon... N-Naruto-kun." Hinata mumbled, once again, blushing. It seems a little bit redder than usual though.

"Hello, Kakashi." Kurenai greeted a silver haired man with the left eye hidden by his headband. He was going to respond, but a certain blond interrupted him.

"Kuro! Guess what! The old man just gave us a C-rank mission! Cool, huh?"

"Mah, mah. It's just a routine escort." Kakashi minimized.

"What!" Kiba shouted. "Kurota! We must get a C-rank mission too!"

I was jealous about it too, and thankfully Kurenai-sensei smiled: "We'll see if there is an easy mission remaining. I think you're ready for it."

"Hell yeah!" Kiba shouted, and I grinned.

"Finally."I sighed. Even Hinata-chan smiled.

We talked a bit and get up on the Hokage's office. He was going to give us another boring D-rank mission, but our sensei interrupted him.

"Actually Hokage-sama, I think my team is ready for a C-rank mission."

"Is that so?" the old man chuckled. "I guess you crossed team 7's path."

I grinned. "Yes, sir."

"Do you think you three are ready for a C-rank mission?" he asked looking first at Kiba who acquiesced, and then to Hinata, who blushed as usual but nodded nonetheless, and finally at me.

"Of course, Hokage-sama! You already gave me one, after all!" I answered cheerfully, and the others looked at me surprised.

"Seriously? Not fair!" Kiba groaned.

"Of course." the Sandaime accepted. "If Kurenai thinks you three are ready, then so be it. It's an escort mission, like team 7. Can you come, Hioshi?"

A bald old man warped in a long robe walked inside the room with a walking stick.

 **Moralizer of the Mind's Power**

 **Lv18 Hioshi Piceyang**

"Yes, Hiruzen? Ah, is this the escort team I requested?" He asked with his hoarse voice.

"Indeed." the hokage confirmed, before turning to Kurenai. "You'll have the mission of protecting this man during his travel to an ancient monastery in the land of rivers. He must deliver a medicine to cure another monk."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Sensei bowed, and turned to the old monk."When will we be leaving?" She questioned.

"Tomorrow morning, at the first light of the son."the bald man declared.

"That's early..." Kiba muttered.

"Good." Kurenai agreed. "Then, we shall leave to prepare the trip. Come on."

I didn't move.

I was staring at the old man mouth opened. I had just used [Observe] on our client and what it revealed was… really surprising.

 **Name: Hioshi Piceyang**

 **HP: 432/432 CP: 311/311 MP: 5741**

 **Occupation: Founder of the Mind's Power cult**

 **Sex: Male**

 **Level: 18**

 **Title: Moralizer of the Mind's Power**

 **Age: 69**

 **Race: Human**

 **Specialty/Attributes: Psychology, Willpower**

 **STR: 4 VIT: 4 DEX: 5 CKR: 3 CKRC: 1 INT: 57 WIS: 74**

 **Status effects: None**

 **History : Hioshi has always been a monk. He searched for the true meaning of life for a long time, and discovered that the mind could alone affect the world physically. He founded the Mind's Power cult, a religion that believes the mind overrules everything, and he's currently spending the rest of his life searching for a successor before he dies, without success.**

 **Emotions: Serene, Interested**

The Mind's Power… Could it be… MP?

* * *

 **A/N: Here it is! Thank you all for reading. Don't worry, Kurota won't change into some sort of fanatic prophet. Next chapter tomorrow!**


	15. Chapter 14

**Disc** **laimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Thank you all for your support!**

 **I edited precedent chapter because the operations on the stats had vanished somehow. It's normal now. Don't hesitate to tell me if something like this happen again in the future!**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter.  
**

* * *

"Kurota! Hey Kurota! We're leaving!"

I detached my gaze of the old man, and turned to Kiba.

"Yeah, sorry. Let's go."

"Geez, what's up with you? You're so calm usually."

I saw Kurenai-sensei frowning at me an interrogating glance, but I shook my head.

"It's nothing..." I mumbled.

"Ok, so let's meet at the village's doors tomorrow at sunrise. Prepare yourself." sensei ordered and we separated outside the building.

That man had the highest INT and WIS that I ever saw before. Most civilians don't reach 20, and even ninjas had a hard time surpassing 50. And his history… the discoverer of the mind's effect on physical world? That sounded like it could help me with magic. And the Mind's Power, was it MP? I'll question him on the trip.

* * *

The day after, it was still night when I woke up. I ate breakfast, and prepared myself, taking my leg's holster full with shurikens and kunais, and taking off my weights. They helped me a lot for strength and speed training, but it was a true mission, so no weights. I had bought a lot of tools in 2 month, and I had a little arsenal ready in my inventory, along with food supplies and basic medical stuff. I said goodbye to my parents, and went in the direction of the village's door, the first light of the sun showing up through the trees.

When I arrived, I saw Sakura waiting too.

"Sakura? What are you doing here?" I asked curiously.

"We're going to travel a bit together, and then separate." She explained.

"You're going to the land of rivers too?"

"No, the land of Waves. But we take the same road for the first part of the trip."

"I see..."

This island of the land of Waves was indeed near the frontier between the land of Fire and the land of Rivers.

"G-Good morning… Sakura-san..." Hinata arrived and greeted the pink haired girl.

"Good morning, Hinata!" she responded.

Sasuke arrived next, along with team7's client, a bridgebuilder.

"Hello everybody!" The man named Tazuna said.

"Hn." Sasuke gave a nod to everybody. _'Woa, he's more sociable that before!'_ I thought amusingly.

We waited a little moment, before Hioshi showed up as well. He too simply nodded to us.

"No way! You're going with us? A deadlast like you?" I heard Kiba laugh.

"What did you called me?!" Naruto shouted, and they glared at each other, gritting their teeth, whereas they arrived.

"Yo, Naruto, Kiba." I waved my hand.

They saluted everybody, and a short time after Kurenai showed up with Kakashi, who was pouting reading his book.

"Good morning!" She greeted too.

"Woa! Sensei's not late! Naruto and Sakura shouted, surprised.

"I made sure he wasn't going to be." Kurenai smirked at Kakashi.

"All right, everyone is here? Let's go." Kakashi declared, annoyed to be in time, and we began to walk.

The trip was pretty animated. Naruto and Kiba argued as often as possible, and Sakura and Hinata got to know each other a bit more. Sasuke walked alone, sensei, Kakashi and Tazuna-san was talking a bit and I started to interrogate the monk.

"Excuse me, Hioshi-san… From what religion are you from?"

"Kurota-kun, was it? It's more a belief than a religion, really."He answered.

"A belief? And what do you believe in this cult?"

Hioshi looked at me, and smiled.

"The mind, little ninja. The mind dominates everything."He stated. "A long time ago, I had the chance to discover the power of the mind, to understand things. It is the key to psychic powers."

"Psychic powers..." I muttered. "I see. So in theory, everyone could understand this, and unlock those psychic powers?"

"It's not locked, little ninja. You have discovered the chakra, the product of the body's energy and the willpower. Was it locked before? In the same way, I simply achieved enough understanding to discover a new part of human beings: what I call now the Mind's Power." he explained wisely.

"So to use this… mind's power… you would have to understand, and know things?" I questionned hesitantly.

"You cannot possibly comprehend everything. A grand part is also based on self control, and inner calm. That is something you can achieve with meditation. Some people are gifted in manipulation of the Mind's Power; but it's useless if you don't have knowledge and wisdom."

I smiled a little bit at that. For me, [Gamer's Mind] did all the work on self control, and I could improve intelligence and wisdom easily.

"And what… things do you understand?"

"I understood the true nature of water along with..." He interrupted himself, narrowing his eyes at something on the way. I followed his glance, and found a large puddle on the side of the road, 10 meters away or so.

I raised an eyebrow at that. It hadn't rained for days… I used [Observe] on it, and found out it was a camouflage technique used by 2 mans, levels 35 and 36, with the title 'demon brothers'.

I turned to Kurenai-sensei, as we approached.

"Sensei… this puddle..." I started.

"You noticed?" she whispered, smiling at me. "As expected from you, Kurota-kun. Don't worry, we have everything under control." She assured me and I nodded.

We passed the puddle, and suddenly the 2 ninjas jumped and killed Kakashi and Kurenai-sensei with a chain stuck in their arms. Thankfully, [Gamer's Mind] was here to tell me that there was no-way that could have happened, and I deduced it must have been a genjutsu.

"Two down." The demon brothers said unaffected.

Naruto and Kiba froze, and Sakura and Hinata each placed themselves to defend their own client. Sasuke charged to fight the enemies, and I followed him.

 _Ping!_

 **Through being exposed to continuous overwhelming killing intent, the skill [Detect Killing Intent] was created.**

 **[Detect Killing Intent(Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%]**

 **A skill that detect any killing intent directed at the user or people near him. It is an intinctive skill.**

 **Detects killing intent within 10 meters from the user's location. It also alerts the user of its origin.**

I was quickly giving a glance at the red rectangle when Sasuke jumped, and threw a kunai along with a shuriken to the chain coming out of their arm, effectively stucking it into a tree behind them. Then the Uchiha landed on their shoulders, and kicked their faces. However, they quickly recovered and began getting around and ignoring us, running to Tazuna and Sakura. I threw a kunai in front of her, and did a quick kawarimi with it once it landed, interposing myself between them. I moved my hand into a hand seal and performed a small genjutsu on one of them, making him think that Tazuna was fleeing to the right. He followed the movement and tried to decapitate 'Tazuna', while I was going to parry the other's attack, but at this moment, our senseis decided that was enough and each appeared out of nowhere near the demon brothers, and quickly knocked them out.

"All right… Nice job Sasuke. You too Sakura, you defended the client. Naruto, next time get a hold of yourself." Kakashi said casually.

"Same thing to you Kiba-kun. Hinata-chan, you stayed to protect Hioshi-san, good job. Kurota-kun, nice reaction too, and good observation." Kurenai praised.

Naruto and Kiba looked at Sasuke and me, amazed.

"You alright, scaredy cats?" Sasuke taunted.

"What..?!" Naruto protested and Kiba groaned with Akamaru, but Kakashi interrupted them.

"Tazuna-san… I need to talk to you."

* * *

It turned out team 7's mission was in reality B-rank, because the bridge builder confessed he was pursued by ninjas, but even with that, they decided to continue the mission.

We returned to our trip, and eventually went separated wished them luck, and I restarted to get informations on the Mind's Power.

"So Hioshi-san… What did you mean when you said that you understood the true nature of water?" I asked him.

"I meant what I said. Because I knew the true nature of water, I was able to know that puddle was hiding ninjas."

"I see… How did you achieve this understanding?"

"Oi, Kuro, don't tell me you believe what he's saying?" Kiba interrupted as he listened to our conversation.

"K-Kiba-kun!" Hinata-chan reproached.

"I don't see why not." I replied to him, earning a surprised glance from Kurenai-sensei.

"Why not?" Kiba repeated, staring me like I was crazy.

"Yeah. It's very interesting if you think about it." I affirmed.

"Whatever..." Kiba groaned.

"That's quite surprising coming from you, Kurota-kun." sensei remarked. "I thought you were more the logical type."

"What's not logical in there? He said it's not a religion, and it's all about understanding."The monk gave me a smile, appreciating that I defended his... belief.

"Well, yeah… But..." Kurenai-sensei hesitated, and finally shrugged, abandoning the argument.

The rest of the trip was quiet, without enemies attacking us. We passed the frontier of the land of rivers and finally arrived at the monastery. We entered, led by Hioshi, and were greeted by another monk.

"Hioshi. You have the medicine?" he enquired.

"Yes. But it might not be sufficient."

"Come on, let's give it to him. You ninjas can visit around for a bit." he told us, smiling to me particularly.

The rest of my team walked around a bit, but I went my own way. I found a staircase and began to climb. Eventually, I reached the 5th and last floor after visiting each of them, and noticed I was in an attic.

"This is pretty huge for an attic…" I muttered to myself.

In fact it was more archives than an attic, really. There were stacks of books everywhere, it was a mess. I began walking between the walls of books, [Observe]ing most of them. Generally, they were talking about theology, philosophy or psychology…I examined each of them until I stepped on a book. I stared down, and took it.

 **You've obtained the skill book [Mind Healing: Being's Restoration].**

 **Would you like to learn the skill? YES/NO**

What is this? I can learn this skill if I choose yes? That would be complete bullshit, because the book is written in another language and I couldn't read a single word of it. I frowned, and tried to accept the proposition.

 **You cannot learn this skill.**

 **Required INT: 45**

 **Required WIS:50**

 **Required VIT: 30**

Interesting. It even has stats restrictions… Fortunately, I have quite a lot of points to spend.

I grinned as I opened my status window.

 **Name:** **Kurota Farazuke**  
 **Title** **: The Gamer**  
 **Level: LV** **16** **(** **23,7** **%)**  
 **HP:** **1** **2** **7** **6** **/** **1** **2** **7** **6**

 **CP:** **3800** **/** **38** **00**  
 **MP:** **30** **00** **/** **30** **00**  
 **STR:** **34 +** **4,76** = **38,76**  
 **VIT:** **33** \+ **4,62** = **37,62**  
 **DEX:** **30 +** **4,2** = **34,2** **(A/N: He got his taijutsu academy style to level 28, so he has 14% bonus in physical stats)**

 **CKR:** **38**

 **CKRC: 35 +** **3** **,** **8** **5 = 3** **8,85** **(A/N: He got his tree climbing to level 22, so he has 11% bonus)** **  
INT:** **30** **  
WIS:** **38** **  
POINTS:** **35**

I put 15 points into INT, and got the habitual headache. But when I raised my WIS to 50, I felt something different, a different kind of pain...

 **Since your WIS passed 50, you gained the skill [World's True Vision].**

"Urgh..." The pain intensified, reaching my eyes, and I knelt to the ground, panting. I just had the time to comprehend what the window said and what it implied, before my vision became more and more blurred and vague. I quickly put the skill book in my inventory, saving it for later, but soon I was no longer seeing anything and I fell on the ground.

I lost myself in the pain with my hands covering my eyes, letting out a scream before I passed out.

* * *

 **A/N: Damn, fight scenes are difficult to write. Next chapter this evening.  
**


	16. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **DarkLord98: Corrected. Thank you for pointing that out.**

 **I hope you enjoy this.  
**

* * *

"Kurota-kun… Kurota-kun! Wake up! What happened to you?"

Someone was gently shaking me… The voice was Kurenai-sensei's…

In a flash, I remember what had happened. I had gained a skill called [World's True Vision] when I reached 50 in WIS… and my eyes had started to hurt like hell…. Then I lost sight and passed out.

"Urgh… How long was I asleep?" I asked, not daring to open my eyes.

"No longer than a few minutes." the voice responded. "What happened to you?"

"That's what I want to know…" I sighed and got up.

"Uh… Kuro?" that was Kiba's voice now. He seemed perplex.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you keep your eyes closed?"

"Uhh… I don't know."

"Then… open them?" Kurenai-sensei suggested.

"Ok..."

I slowly opened my eyes, and examined my surroundings. Nothing changed, except I was able to notice details I shouldn't have seen. Like, this bug that was flying in a dark corner. Or this spider hidden in the shadow of a stack of books. I was also able to read a book that was opened at the other side of the room.

Kurenai-sensei was staring worriedly at me, Kiba and Hinata-chan behind her. There was also Hioshi, along with the other monk.

I blinked a few times, to get used to this new vision. Awesome… It's as if I never saw the real world before. I saw everything! I didn't even need to focus on something in particular to notice things. And... I think I can see in the dark too.

I read the blue rectangle in front of me.

 **[World's True Vision (Passive & Active) LV1 EXP:0,00% MP: 3000 per minute]**

 **Your eyes have adapted to be able to comprehend the true world.**

 **Passive: You see things more precisely and accurately, this effects increases with skill level.  
**

 **Active: You're able to see more things, that are usually not visible to normal eyes. You see more new things as the skill level increases.**

Holy shit… My first MP skill! This is pretty expensive though. So, this was my vision when my eyes weren't activated… What would it be once I switch them on?

"Kurota-kun! Are you okay?" Kurenai-sensei called, looking in my eyes. Did my eyes change or something?

"I … think I'm alright. Probably."

"Is that so..." Kurenai narrowed her eyes at me. Of course, she suspects something. I'll come up with a good story later.

Suddenly, a scream of pain reached us, from the 1st floor. The 2 monks paled, and they ran downside in a hurry. We followed them in the room, and we found a man screaming in pain on a bed, convulsing.

"The medicine is acting!" Hioshi said anxiously staring at the man. "Now it's up to him to find the strength to survive."

"Is there no way to help him?" I demanded.

"We can only wait. It can take days before he dies, but he can also survive."

My team and I stared at the man who was screaming, helpless. The monks sat down, and began meditating, accepting the fate of their companion, whatever it was.

"Well, since we accomplished our mission, we shall go back to the village now." Kurenai told to the monks, who nodded in acceptance.

"Come on, let's go." She called us, but I didn't move.

"Kurenai-sensei, if that's okay, I would like to stay here just 5 more minutes." I requested.

"Sure. We'll be waiting outside." She accepted, and my team left the building.

I looked at the man screaming. Maybe I could help him, with that skillbook…

I threw a glance at the 2 monks, they seemed unaware of there surroundings, meditating like that. I went to another room, and took out the skill book of my inventory.

 **Would you like to learn the skill: [Mind Healing: Being's Restoration] ? YES/NO**

I pressed the 'yes' button, and the book… started to emit yellow light, and it disappeared.

The book had vanished. Just like that, there was nothing left. Except maybe the blue box that showed up.

 **You learned the skill: [Mind Healing: Being's Restoration].**

 **[Mind Healing: Being's Restoration (Active) LV1 EXP: 0,00% MP: 1000]**

 **Long time ago, priests and monks developed techniques to embrace the spirit and mind and use its powers. Among those techniques is the Mind Healing technique which allows to restore the full essence of a being.**

 **Without soul stone: restore 250HP. Remove fatigue, status effects and illness.**

 **With soul stone: restore 250 HP, 250CP and 250MP. Remove fatigue, worse status effects and worse illness.**

 **Special conditions or special status effets cannot be removed by this skill.**

At the same time, knowledge invaded my brains, the rush of information flooded my mind for a few seconds, and then, I just knew how to heal using my mind.

Something put it in my brains, and I consumed the book. I felt like I can use it perfectly now. A book written in some ancient language I'm not even sure the monks could read.

That is so bullshit. If I could do it with scrolls too… I could learn any justsu as long as there was a scroll corresponding. I remembered the forbidden scroll that Naruto stole… I would have been in big trouble if I ate that one.

And that's not even talking about the skill in itself. If I use it 5 times on myself I get back to near full HP, and restore my stamina along with suppressing eventual status effects. That's… so op. And what is a soul stone? It gave bonus effects...

I shrugged, returned to the room and stood near the poor man, who was now gasping and panting. I gently took his hand in mine and used the skill.

My hand emitted a white light, and I healed him 3 more times, since the man wasn't full HP yet.

He started to breathe normally, and opened his eyes. He straightened his position, looking at me with wide eyes. After a moment, he said:

"Thank you. You saved my life."

I nodded to him, accepting his gratitude. I turned to the monks, who were staring shocked at me.

"I shall take my leave, then." I declared awkwardly, and began walking to the door.

"Wait! Let me thank you properly."The man got up as if he was never dying a few seconds before, and ran out of the room.

I waited a few minutes with the monks, who were now smiling at me and I saw something new in their eyes: respect.

"Here." The healed man gave me another book. "This will tell you how to get to know the various elements, and fully understand them."

 **You've obtained the skill book [Contract Elemental].**

 **Would you like to learn the skill? YES/NO**

I refused the proposition and took the book. It would not leave a good impression if I 'ate' it here and now. "Thank you very much. I'll put it to good use." I affirmed respectfully.

"I'm sure you will." he smiled at me.

"If someday you have nowhere else to go, please know that you'll always be welcome among us, Kurota-san." Hioshi assured me. "And if you have problems at your village because of your mind's power, please tell Hiruzen you're my successor. He will understand."

"Thank you. Now, my team waits for me, I'll take my leave. It was an honour to meet all of you."

"For us too. Take care of yourself."

I got out and rejoined my team, amazed at the beauty of the marvelling world around me.

"They gave you a book?" Kiba remarked, surprised.

"Yeah. I think they liked me."

"Ready to go now?" Kurenai-sensei asked me, rolling her eyes and smiling.

"More than ever." I smirked.

* * *

 **A/N: So yeah… the OPness begins. Next chapter tomorrow.**


	17. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Review replies:**

 **Guest: 'So what happens to shino?' The truth is, I don't know yet if I'll make him participate in the chunin exam or not. I'll see, but no promises.  
**

 **IceSandwich : Yeah, I was worried people wouldn't like the MP thing, but they are, more or less. That's awesome!**

 **As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

We returned to Konoha without more complications. While walking, I trained my True Vision, and indeed, I was able to see more things. Like, colours that never existed, or what I believe was heat, which emanated from hot things, like my teammates. I noted amusingly that when Hinata-chan is embarrassed, she actually products a lot of heat…

I also remarked that I wasn't dazzled any more when looking right at the sun. That was useful… no more sunglasses! Take that, Shino!

I had currently 225 regen MP per minute, and the skill costs 930MP per minute now that I upped it to level 7. So when I keep it active, I lose 705 MP per minute… So I can keep it on about 6 minutes. And I'll need 20 minutes to recover… I need to up the skill, along with my mental skills.

If I got a new skill when I reached 50 in WIS, it was probably safe to assume that I'll get other skills when the other stats hit 50 too… Maybe I'll even obtain another one at 100.

So when we arrived at konoha and got our pay, we separated and I found a training area to be alone, so that I could experiment in piece. First I pulled out of my inventory the book the monks gave me.

 **Would you like to learn the skill [Contract Elemental]? YES/NO**

I pressed YES. But as expected, there were stats restrictions.

 **You cannot learn this skill.**

 **Required INT: 75**

 **Required WIS:85**

This skill book must be OP to have such a high requirement… I'll need 12 more levels before being able to learn this one. I pulled it back into my inventory, there was another thing I needed to verify...

I opened my status window, and put 5 more points into INT.

 **Since your INT passed 50, you gained the skill [Mana Affinity].**

I was right! Reaching 50 give you a free skill! That's awesome...

A strange feeling passed into me… It was like I was suddenly aware of my own mind. I could literally _feel_ the essence of mymind...

 **[Mana Affinity(Passive) LVMAX]**

 **A skill that allows the user to be more sensitive to mana and handle it better.**

 **10% increase in MP recovery rate.**

 **5% increase in total MP amount.**

 **5% increase in magic attack.**

 **5% increase in magic defense.**

 **30% increase in related MP skill effect.**

"Mana..."I mumbled. So MP was indeed Mana Points, not Mind Power. But… is it really different? Isn't mana kind of the essence of the mind? I shrugged and returned to the red panel.

When I saw the numbers, I smirked. Another OP skill… And directly max level! Let's do some maths...This changed a lot of things, like the amount of heal of my Restoration technique, which became 325 instead of 250. My chakra pool, became 5250 instead of 5000, and my regen MP was now 288,75 instead of 262,5. I didn't have any magic attacks at all at the moment, but it should come soon… And magic defense was useless. It's not like I'll encounter another magician.

I retried what I did numerous times on week-ends, use mana. Like before, I accumulated a bit in my hand, and I actually could _feel_ the mana in it. Not like chakra, that you can feel with your body, I could sense the mana with... my brain. With a thought, I released it, and my hand ejected a blue sphere that exploded against a tree.

"Shit!" I sweared, but inside I was gloating. More than giving bonus, this skill allowed me to properly manipulate mana!

 _Ping!_

 **Through a special action, a new skill [Mana Bolt] has been created.**

 **[Mana Bolt(Active) LV1 EXP: 0,00% / CP: 100]**

 **A skill that attacks by emitting mana. Attack power and range increases with INT.**

 **Range: 10m**

Cool! My first magic attack! I hurt a tree, but I gained a skill. I'll be more careful next time though.

With [Mana Affinity], I could create tons of mana skills. So I decided I'll spend the afternoon to experiment.

I tried the same thing I did with [Mana Bolt], but instead of accumulating it in my hand, I poured it out directly. Of course I had my hand raised at the sky, to keep the surroundings intact. It did… nothing. Every thing was the same as before.

Wait… not everything…

There wasn't any wind, nor any sounds. The trees were like dead, and I didn't heard birds either. It was like I was… somewhere else, but at the same place too.

 _Ping!_

 **[ID Create (Active) LV1 EXP: 0,00% / CP: 2000]**

 **Used to create Instant Dimensions.**

 **Stronger Instant Dimensions may be created or entered at higher levels.**

 **Currently available ID list:**

 **1). Empty ID – Monsters: None**

I stared at the explication blankly, not believing it. Seriously? I created another dimension?! Just like that? That… What the fuck. I began to laugh awkwardly at the rectangle. When I read the part that said 'Monsters: None' I was laughing my ass out. Monsters? I can create dimensions where monsters can spawn? I know I'm going to repeat myself, but this is bullshit. How? I heard the Yondaime had a space-time ninjutsu... I'll need to search for more informations.

That skill is probably my most broken of all. I could escape anybody with this. To their eyes, I'll just vanish… right? Could they follow me in there? I doubt it.

I walked around a bit. There wasn't anybody in this false Konoha. It was empty, like the skill said.

Wow. What a powerful skill. A bit expensive, but I could lower the cost by leveling it up.

"Hm… Am I trapped in there?" I wondered. Is there a timer for the dimension? How exactly do I get out?

Instinctively, I raised my hand and tried to grasp the mana that created the dimension, and it returned to my hand.

 _Ping!_

 **Through a special action, A skill [ID Escape] has been created.**

 **[ID Escape (Active) LV1 EXP 0,0% / CP: none]**

 **Used to escape Instant Dimensions.**

 **Stronger Instant Dimensions may be escaped at high level.**

I smiled, satisfied, but it lasted only a second.

 _'Bump!'_

I had appeared in the middle of the street, and team 10 shoved into me. Strangely, I reappeared at the place I was in the Instant Dimension, instead of returning to the forest where I was. So when I moved in the Dimension, it was like I moved my re-apparition spot too… Even with 50 INT and 50 WIS, you keep making some mistakes from time to time…

"Ah, excuse me…" I apologized.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Ino Yamanaka asked, surprised.

"Even I didn't sense you. That wasn't a shunshin. What did you do?" A voice raised behind her.

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **LV? Asuma Sarutobi**

 _'shit.'_ I thought.

"Heheh, guess what! I just came out of a different dimension where Konoha is a ghost town!" I told them the truth. Who would believe me anyway?

"Troublesome." Shikamaru sighed, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Sensei, I think this restaurant will do." Choji suggested, pointing at the side of the street.

"Oh, yeah. Wanna join us, er…"

"Kurota."

"Wanna join us, Kurota-kun?" he invited me. I could see he was very curious about my sudden apparition in the middle of the street.

"Sure. It's been a while since I last saw you guys." I agreed. This would be the occasion to take a break from all this weird mana stuff. Or mind stuff. I don't know anymore.

We entered, commanded grillings, and I sat next to Shikamaru, as far away as possible from their jounin.

"So, Kurota-kun. Besides appearing out of nowhere, what are you doing? How is Kurenai?" Asuma seemed more interested in sensei than my dimension travel. Good.

"She's doing well. She taught me genjutsu." I revealed.

"I thought you had crappy chakra control?" Ino remarked, surprised.

"I had, but I don't anymore. I trained." I said simply, and she snorted.

"At least someone who take his ninja training seriously!" Asuma rejoiced, giving his team a tired look. "All I do is paying meals and playing shôgi."

"You play shôgi?" I repeated, interested, and Shikamaru started paying attention to what we were saying.

"Yeah." He sighed, "I play a lot against Shikamaru, but he always win."

"Really? I play shôgi too, and I think I'm pretty good. Maybe we could have a game some day." I suggested to the Nara.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru sighed, but smiled nonetheless.

I decided to go home after we finished eating. It'was getting dark. On the way, Observe reached level 30, and I discover that I could now see what technique a person uses the most. Pretty useful in my opinion. I was leveling [World's True Vision] too, and when it reached level 5, it allowed me to look through thin walls, except metallic ones.

When I crossed people, I gasped and looked down, blushing. I could see through clothes too… People were throwing questioning glances at me. Oh god… Is that why Hinata-chan is so shy? I surely felt a lot like Hinata-chan right now, looking down and blushing each time I glanced at someone. No, her Byakugan is turned off most of the time. She's just shy.

"I'm home..." I mumbled, entering the shop.

"Hey! How was your C-rank mission?" Dad greeted me, along with mom.

"Instructive." I responded, and noticed mom was staring at me strangely. I looked down, because I didn't turned my eyes off yet.

"Kurota..." Mom said, approaching me slowly.

"Yes?"

"Your eyes… They're blue..." She whispered.

 _'shit.'_ I quickly turned my eyes off, but it was too late. I was suddenly hit by something and thrown on the ground. Dad landed on me, a kunai on my throat.

"Who are you? What did you do to my son?" He interrogated angrily, and mom gasped.

"Goddammit! I _am_ your son!"

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

… Okay, I'll need to convince him.

"My son has green eyes. I don't know how you managed to transform your body like that, but you did a pretty bad job. You weren't acting like him either, looking down all the time."

"I… I can explain..." I said. "It's a dôjutsu specific to me."

"You'll need something better to convince me."

"I can prove it to you… I can see through non metallic thin things… that's why I was looking down, I saw you… naked..." I explained, and my dad widened his eyes.

"Prove it." he declared. "Tell me what I have in my pockets."

I looked, and answered, smirking: "You have a book named Icha-Icha Paradise..."

My father's eyes widened even more, if that was possible, and he blushed, while mom glared dangerously at him.

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading! Next chapter in a few hours.**


	18. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **I hope you enjoy this.**

* * *

"So let me get this straight: you unlocked an unknown Dojutsu that makes you able to see in the dark, to not be dazzled, to see heat and colours that are not normally visible, and through thin matter? And it is still developing?"

"I know how it sounds, but…" I sighed when I heard my father summarize what I told him.

"I'll take you to the Hokage." He declared, and my mother stopped tearing my father's book apart.

"Do you really think that's necessary? That's Kuro-chan, and you know it."mom pleaded.

"I have to." Dad affirmed, and I nodded in acceptance. If he took me to the Hokage, I could see a way out of this…

My father shunshined with me and appeared on the hokage tower's roof. He carried me to the hokage's office.

"Hokage-sama. I have urgent matters." He managed to bow respectively while still restraining me.

"Fusoku. What happened for you to treat your son like that?" the sandaime asked.

"I believe he's not who he pretends to be. He's eyes colour changed and his beahaviour was suspicious."

The Hokage narrowed his eyes at me. "Well… Do you have something to say to your defense before we go to Inoichi to see if you're yourself?"

I didn't know who was that Inoichi, but I'm not going to the T&I department.

"Yes, actually. Would you put me down please?" I requested to my dad, and he put me down with the authorisation of the Hokage.

"I am the successor of Hioshi Piceyang, and that makes me the heir of the Mind's Power cult." I said casually.

The hokage widened his eyes, and my father said:

"Ha! I knew you weren't my son! What did you do to him?"

"Calm down, Fusoku."the old man turned to me. "If what you said is true, then demonstrate one of his techniques without using chakra."

I frowned. I didn't knew any of his techniques. And I can't throw a mana bolt in the hokage's office… What to do…

"I don't know of his techniques, but I can surely do things without chakra." I said, gaining time.

"Then do it." The hokage ordered.

"… I can change eye colour!" I proclaimed, and I turned my eyes on and off, repeating the process a few times.

The hokage raised his eyebrows. "I don't sense genjutsu… Strange..."

"That's because I use my mind to do it." I explained.

"I see… I'm sorry Kurota-kun, but I'll need more solid proof that you are the real one."

"Wait! It's a dojutsu that allows me to see through thin matter using my mind! I couldn't possibly use a dojutsu without chakra, right?"

"We're going to need a chakra sensor to verify that..." My father mumbled.

The sandaime called a chakra sensor, and within 3 minutes a ninja appeared.

"Hokage-sama." He bowed.

"Please tell me if he uses chakra, especially in his eyes." He ordered, and turned to me. "So, what is in my pocket?"

I looked with my True Vision, and widened my eyes. Seriously…

"You have a book named 'Icha-Icha paradise'..." I said depressingly.

The old man had the decency to blush.

"Ahem… That's okay, I believe you, Kurota-kun. You can leave, I think you need to explain yourself to your parents..."

We quickly returned home, and I found myself sitting at the table, my parents facing me.

"ONE DAY! You leave the village one day and that's all it took you to be dragooned into some dark cult!" My mom cried.

"It's not a dark cult!" I protested.

"What sort of cult teach some weird perverted techniques to see people naked!" My mom shouted.

"Um… Actually, that was my own doing..." I mumbled.

"That's even worse!"mom lamented, and my dad laughed at what I said. "And you! If I see this book ever again I'm going to commit _murder_!" She shouted, and my father gulped awkwardly, scared by his own wife.

"The monks just taught me to learn to understand the world and my mind. Is that bad?" I questioned innocently.

"Right! And naturally, the first thing you tried to understand was the women's bodies!" She yelled, and tears began to form in her eyes as dad and I looked at her shocked. "My son has become a pervert..."

"What! No… Look, I promise I won't use it to look at women. Okay?" I prevented dad to say something stupid, noticing his sceptical look.

"Okay..." she sobbed.

"So anyone can have this Dôjutsu, if they study enough?" Dad asked.

"No, you have to be very smart, wise, calm, serene, and to control your emotions."

"So… you're a sort of genius?" He deduced.

"...Kinda." I admitted.

"You hear that, Sachiko? Our son is a genious! Pull yourself together!" my father said happily.

I smiled to mom, and she returned it to me. "You're doing the dishes this evening." She ordered.

* * *

The next day, my team and I returned to our D-rank mission routine. While Kiba, Akamaru and Kurenai sensei were walking ahead, I pulled Hinata-chan by the sleeve.

"Hey Hinata-chan… I want to ask you something..."

"Y-yes, Kurota-kun?"

"The byakugan can see through matters, right? How do you deal with it when you see naked people?" I asked casually, and Hinata-chan became full red.

"K-Kurota-kun! W-we can choose… to not look if we want to!"

"Really? That's convenient..." I commented, and I tried to wish I couldn't see through clothes, staring at sensei. Surprisingly, she returned back to be fully dressed, and I sighed in relief. I'm only 12 years old after all…

At the end of the afternoon, I returned to the forest, created an Instant Dimension to be safe, and returned to my mana manipulations.

Let's see… I have an attack using mana, could I create a defense too? Like a shield or something.

I began gathering mana in my hand, expanded it and flattened it, until it bacame a thin wall.

 _Ping!_

 **Through continuous testing of condensing mana, a skill to block attacks, [Mana shield] has been created.**

 **[Mana Shield (Active) LV1 EXP: 0,00% / MP: 500]**

 **One of the most basic defense skill using mana.**

 **The shield's strength and density increase with the user's INT and skill level.**

 **Additionnal 500MP used per minute.**

I activated the skill, and a wall of mana appeared around me, forming a sphere. That's so cool… Strangely, I could pass my hand through it. I could also threw shuriken through it, but I tried to threw one above me and when it fell back, the shield blocked the shuriken from harming me. Interesting how it worked… It must be based on my mind.

Now what did I need? I have attack and defense… I need evasion techniques now. Hmmm…

I tried to gather mana in my feet, but I ended up hurting myself. How could I do it?

And then, it stroke me. I didn't need evasion techniques, I already had [ID Create]! I could escape any fight. The problem was the mana cost… I need something to recover my mana faster…

In a flash, I remembered the monks, meditating in front of their dying friend. I remember Hioshi mentioning it to be the key to inner piece too.

I sat down, in the same position I saw the monks, but nothing happened. I remembered the monks… they were breathing heavily… I started to inspire and expire deeply, trying to concentrate on my breath, and nothing else. Finally, I heard it.

 _Ping!_

 **Through a special action, a skill [Meditate] has been creating.**

 **[Meditate (Active) LV1 EXP: 0,00%]**

 **Men invented Meditation to engage in contemplation or reflection, or in mental exercise for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness. Later, it was used to achieve inner piece and self control, and to train chakra sense.**

 **Increases HP regeneration by 100% when active.**

 **Increases CP regeneration by 100% when active.**

 **Increases MP regeneration by 100% when active.**

 **Increases Stamina regeneration by 100% when active.**

 _'Well, that does it.'_ I thought, smiling.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading. Next chapter this evening, I think.**


	19. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Thank you all for your support.**

* * *

The routine returned. I did D-rank missions with my team, and I trained in the evening. I kept [Mana Shield] active while I trained, to increase its level. It appeared that with each skill level, I could generate another Mana Shield, paying the additional cost of course.

Soon, I leveled up my [ID Create skill] to level 2 and was able to create Instant Dimensions where… where zombies spawned. Yeah, I knew I could do it, but still…

The average zombie was level 8, and very slow. When I killed them, they disappeared, gave me XP and dropped things, and that's how I obtained a few Soul Stones… But after a time, I stopped hunting zombies, they were so slow that was just counter productive.

When I leveled up, I saw sensei's title and level for the first time:

 **Genjutsu Expert**

 **LV67 Kurenai Yuuhi**

So that's the level of a jounin… It's not that high. I continued my genjutsu training with her, and she was very pleased with my interest and talent in the subject. I didn't neglect my physical training either, wearing my weights all the time.

After 2 weeks, team 7 returned from their mission. So I saw Naruto at Ichiraku's as usual and he recounted me his mission. Apparently, it became A-rank and they fought a jounin. Wonderful. He had gained in level too, and when I observed him, I found the description of his favorite jutsu: the Kage Bunshin. When I read it, my eyes widened : apparently each clone has its own mind, and when a clone dispelled, the experience came back to the original. If that worked with skills…

I asked him to demonstrate the kage bunshin, and activated my eyes. At level 15, it was now able to see chakra! So, I can copy the chakra's movement to copy a technique, like the Uchiha.

Naruto accepted, of course, and demonstrated the technique, producing 5 clones. The chakra split up evenly between all of them, taking the shape of a human.

When I tried the technique, I did only one clone.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" I yelled, and I succeeded!

 _Ping!_

 **Through watching and reproducing a technique, the skill [Kage Bunshin No Jutsu] has been created.**

 **[Kage Bunshin No Jutsu (Active) LV1 EXP: 0,00% / CP: 200 per bunshin]**

 **The Shadow Clone Skill, an advanced non-elemental clone. Each clone is capable of individual thinking and possesses the same stats as the original, the user's total CP and MP is split evenly among himself and his clones. Upon dispelling, its chakra, mana and experience returns to the user. Clones can't raise physical stats.**

 **A clone must have at least 2000CP.  
Each clone has 10 HP.  
Base casting time: 3 seconds.  
**

Hell yeah!

"Woah, you did it in one try! Amazing!" Naruto praised, impressed.

"Yeah… I can only do 1 clone right now though."I said smiling.

"Really? That's not very much..." He remarked.

"Naruto!" We heard a voice raising. "Did you just teach the Kage Bunshin jutsu to another genin?"

Kakashi was walking to us, with his Icha-Icha book… This book is everywhere…

"No, he just demonstrated it to me, and since I'm a chakra sensor, I tried to reproduce what he did." I explained, exculpating Naruto.

"It could have killed you." Kakashi said seriously, making Naruto gasp.

"Well, it didn't. It seems I have just enough chakra to make one." I declared, as I consulted my status. I had 2050 CP with one clone.

"I'll tell about this to Kurenai." He told me, and I frowned. "Be really careful with this jutsu." And with that, he shunshined away.

"Naruto, did you know that the experience of your clones come back to you when they dispel?" I asked Naruto, who stared at me confused.

"Huh?"

Me and my clone exchanged an exasperated glance. Did Kakashi taught anything to his team? I let my clone explain:

"When you train, say, chakra control. If you make a clone do the work for you, you will remember it and gain the benefits! Isn't that amazing?"

"Woa! Seriously? That's awesome!" He yelled happily, realising all the possibilities.

"Kurota-kun..."A familiar voice called. "Is it true that you learnt the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu, a dangerous kinjutsu?"

"Oh, Kurenai sensei! So Kakashi told you already? Yeah, and it seems that I have just enough chakra to make one clone! Pretty cool, huh? Sensei?"

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

"You know you could have died?" She groaned, approaching.

"Um… Let's talk about this, sensei… You see, I'm a chakra sensor and I knew I had just enough mana... I mean, just enough chakra… Um..."

"You should have asked me first, you idiot!" She punched my clone, and he exploded in a cloud of smoke.

The real me was already far away, smiling satisfied with this trick. I received the memory clearly, and I thought of all the possibilities of the skill. Strangely, I couldn't train physical stats with it, but I gained a level in [Physical Resistance]... I'm going to completely abuse this...

* * *

One month passed. I am level 21 now and I had trained a bit every day. My [World's True Vision] was now level 34, and I could see through near everything, and a lot farther away, along with another sharingan's ability: the prediction of movements by reading muscles. The latter also allowed me to therically copy taijutsu, but I'm a little skeptical about that, and I never had the chance to try it.

With a new skill, [Water Walking], I had raised my CKRC a lot too.

 **Name:** **Kurota Farazuke**  
 **Title** **: The Gamer**  
 **Level: LV** **21** **(** **42,3** **%)**  
 **HP:** **1407** **/** **1407**

 **CP:** **4** **800** **/** **4** **8** **00**  
 **MP:** **525** **0** **/** **525** **0**  
 **STR:** **44+** **7,92=** **51,92**  
 **VIT:** **4** **3+** **7,74=** **50,74**  
 **DEX:** **4** **0+** **7,2=** **47,2**

 **CKR:** **48**

 **CKRC:** **50+** **10,5=** **60,5** **  
INT:** **50** **  
WIS:** **50** **  
POINTS:** **28**

 **[** **Water Walking(Active) LV12 EXP: 21,4% / CP: 88 per minute ]**

 **A training method used to gain more skills with chakra control. This training involves releasing a constant amount of chakra from the bottom of one's feet, and using that to stand on water.**

 **While active, you can walk on liquid surfaces.**

 **Passively increases CKRC by 6%**

I had been pretty disappointed when I saw that I actually need my _real_ stat to reach 50 to gain a skill, but this morning I had fulfilled that requirement.

 **Since your CKRC passed 50, you gained the skill [Sense Chakra].**

 **[Sense Chakra(Passive) LV1 EXP: 12,3%]**

 **You can sense chakra directly all around you. With great mastery, you could be able to differentiate people, and even detect lies.**

 **Range and precision increase with skill level.**

 **Versatility increase with INT.**

 **Range: 25m**

 **Meditation quadruple the range of this skill and greatly increase precision.**

This skill was so useful… I could now feel people all around me. I sensed Kiba, Akamuru and Hinata-chan waiting with me for Kurenai-sensei to show up. It was a whole new world, like when I obtained my [World's True Vision].

"Good morning." She greeted us, and we saluted her.

"I know this is sudden, but I have nominated you three to the chuunin selection exam." She declared casually.

 _Ping!_

 **Quest: Pass the Chuunin exam! 1/3**

 **Kurenai nominated you to the chuunin selection exam. Participate on the first part of the exam and pass!**

 **Completion reward: 4000XP**

 **Completion failure : none**

 **YES/NO**

"What!" Kiba yelled as usual. Hinata widened her eyes, and I didn't reacted, too busy in my own world.

"Here are your applications." Kiba took his own, and Hinata-chan too. "Kuro-kun? Did you hear me?"

I opened my eyes, accepted the quest and took my application.

"What's up with you, this time?" Kurenai sighed.

"I… I can sense chakra." I told them, like it was big news.

"We know, dumbass." Kiba replied.

"No, not like before… Now I don't need to see it. Since this morning, I can sense chakra behind me too… up to 25 meters I think." I explained.

"You finally awoke your ability! That's great!" Kurenai rejoiced.

"C-Congratulations… Kuro-kun." Hinata-chan praised.

"About time..." Kiba groaned, but smiled nonetheless.

"Yeah, what a good timing. The first part of the exam is tomorrow morning. You can give up if you think you can't do it, it's very difficult." sensei said.

"Not happening." Kiba decided, and I agreed, along with Hinata-chan who had a determined look on her face.

Kurenai smiled. "As expected from you. Well, if you're going to participate tomorrow, you should rest for today. That's all."

She shunshined away, and we talked a little about the chuunin exam before separating too.

I spent the rest of the day meditating with a clone, opening ourselves to our [Chakra Sense].

* * *

 **A/N: And the chuunin exam finally arrives! I'll post a review of Kurota's status and skills soon.**


	20. Kurota's stats and skills after Chpt 18

**Here is a review of Kurota's status and skills before chunin exam.**

* * *

 **S** **tatus window :**

 **Name:** **Kurota Farazuke**  
 **Title** **: The Gamer**  
 **Level: LV** **21** **(** **42,3** **%)**  
 **HP:** **1407** **/** **1407**

 **CP:** **4** **800** **/4** **8** **00**  
 **MP:** **525** **0** **/** **525** **0**  
 **STR:** **44+** **7,92=** **51,92**  
 **VIT:** **4** **3+** **7,74=** **50,74**  
 **DEX:** **4** **0+** **7,2=** **47,2**

 **CKR:** **48**

 **CKRC:** **50+** **10,5=** **60,5** **  
INT:** **50** **  
WIS:** **50** **  
POINTS:** **28**

 **Other useful stats :**

 **HP regen: 14.07 per hour (37.99 in meditation)**

 **CP regen: 252.5 per hour (681.75 in meditation)**

 **MP regen: 262.5 per minute (708.75 in meditation)**

* * *

 **Skills (Obtention order)**

* * *

 **[Gamer's mind (passive) LvMAX]**

 **Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through.**

 **Allows peaceful state of mind.**

 **Immunity to psychological status effects.**

* * *

 **[Gamer's body (passive) LvMAX]**

 **Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game.**

 **After sleep in a bed the user recover all HP, CP and MP.**

* * *

 **[Dish Washing (passive) Lv14 EXP: 14,2%]**

 **A technique to wash dishes.**

 **With more mastery, you can clean any dirty spots.**

 **24% increase in dish washing speed.**

* * *

 **[Physical Resistance (passive)Lv14 EXP: 14,07%]**

 **The body's durability and toughness increase and you take less damage.**

 **14% decrease in damage from physical attacks.**

* * *

 **[Henge No Jutsu (Active) Lv42 EXP: 76,08% / CP: 29]**

 **One of the three basic Ninjutsu. It allows the user to change his shape to something or someone that he can picture clearly.**

 **Additional 6 CP per 1 minute**

 **Casting time: 0,9 seconds**

* * *

 **[Observe (Active) Lv34 EXP: 3,7%]**

 **A skill to find the target's information.**

 **More information are revealed as this skill level up.**

* * *

 **[Throwing Weapons Mastery (Passive) LV 46 EXP: 8,42%]  
Allows the user to use thrown weapons such as kunais, shuriken, senbon or more with skill and precision. As the skill grows, more projectiles can be thrown simultaneously. Range and projectile speed improve with STR. Precision improve with DEX.  
51% increased damage when you throw something.  
110% increased projectile speed.**

* * *

 **[Tailoring (Passive) Lv39 EXP: 7,04%]**

 **A crafting skill to make clothes. You're able to make or adapt cloth to suit yourself.**

 **Crafted clothes become better as mastery level rises.**

* * *

 **[Crafting (Passive) Lv9 EXP: 33,6%]**

 **A skill to make something. Humanity has advanced their civilization through inventing things. Crafted objects become better as mastery level rises.**

 **45 % increase efficiency in crafting type skills**

 **Known crafting skills: Tailoring Lv39**

* * *

 **[** **Kawarimi No Jutsu** **(Active) LV** **49** **EXP:** **0,00** **% / CP:** **51** **]  
** **One of the three basic Ninjutsu. An incredibl** **y** **useful defensive jutsu. It grants the ability to change places with objects within a certain size** **and weight** **.**

 **Current range : 35m**

 **Casting time : 0,55 seconds**

* * *

 **[Bunshin No Jutsu (Active) LV 46 EXP: 0,00 % / CP : 11 per bunshin]  
One of the three basic Ninjutsu. The most basic Clone skill, it creates a number of immaterial clones, the clones are unable to make sound and are destroyed if something pass through them.**

 **Additional 6 CP per minute per bunshin**  
 **Casting time: 0,7 seconds.**

* * *

 **[Academy Style Taijutsu(Passive & Active) LV36 EXP: 43,3%]**

 **The basic taijutsu taught at the Konoha academy.** **A** **basic form of** **techniques** **involving the martial arts or the optimisation of natural human abilities.**

 **You can only have one taijutsu style skill active at a time.**

 **Passively increase STR, VIT and DEX by 18%.**

 **Additional 18% increase in STR, VIT and DEX while active.**

* * *

 **[Stealth(Passive) LV28 EXP:24,7%]**

 **The art of being unnoticed. A staple of ninjas, this skill permits the user to blend in crowds and sneak up on enemies.**

 **You're less likely to be noticed by people when sneaking on them.**

 **Efficiency increases with skill level, WIS and DEX.**

* * *

 **[Tree Walking(Active) LV30 EXP: 94,7% / 14 CP per minute]**

 **A training method used to gain more skills with chakra control. This training involves focusing a fixed amount of chakra to the bottom of one's feet, and using that to climb a tree without using one's hands.**

 **While active, you can walk on solid surfaces.**

 **Passively increases CKRC by 15%**

* * *

 **[Genjutsu Mastery(Passive & Active) LV53 EXP: 60,04% / CP: ? ]**

 **Unlike ninjutsu, the effects of genjutsu are not real, being only illusions experienced by those who fall victim to it. Genjutsu can be used on the mind, manipulating the 5 senses, or objects, changing the appearance of them, like the Henge No Jutsu.**

 **Passively increase chances to detect genjutsus.**

 **You can make illusions, cost depends of the area of effect.**

 **Your illusion's seems more real as CKRC or WIS increase.**

* * *

 **[Detect Killing Intent(Passive) LV** **9** **EXP:** **7** **.** **2** **%]**

 **A skill that detect any killing intent directed at the user or people near him. It is an intinctive skill.**

 **Detects killing intent within 1** **9** **meters from the user's location. It also alerts the user of its origin.**

* * *

 **[World's True Vision (Passive & Active) LV34 EXP:62% MP: 2150 per minute]**

 **Your eyes have adapted to be able to comprehend the true world.**

 **Passive: you see things more precisely and accurately.**

 **Active: you're able to see more things, that are usually not visible to normal eyes.**

 ** **You see more things more precisely as the skill level increases.****

* * *

 **[Mind Healing: Being's Restoration (Active) LV11 EXP: 0,00% MP: 890]**

 **Long time ago, priests and monks developed techniques to embrace the spirit and mind and use its powers. Among those techniques is the Mind Healing technique which allows to restore the full essence of a being by burning the user's soul.**

 **Without soul stone: heals 305HP. Remove fatigue, status effects and illness.**

 **With soul stone: heals 305 HP, 305CP and 305MP. Remove fatigue, worse status effects and worse illness.**

* * *

 **[Mana Affinity(Passive) LVMAX]**

 **A skill that allows the user to be more sensitive to mana and handle it better.**

 **10% increase in MP recovery rate.**

 **5% increase in total MP amount.**

 **5% increase in magic attack.**

 **5% increase in magic defense.**

 ** **30% increase in related** **MP** **skill effect.****

* * *

 **[Mana Bolt(Active) LV22 EXP: 41,07% / CP: 78]**

 **A skill that attacks by emitting mana. Attack power increases with INT.**

 ** **Range:** **32** **m****

* * *

 **[ID Create (Active) LV4 EXP: 65% / CP: 1920]**

 **Used to create Instant Dimensions.**

 **Stronger Instant Dimensions may be created or entered at higher levels.**

 **Currently available ID list:**

 ** **1). Empty ID – Monsters: None****

 ** **2). Zombie ID – Monsters : Zombies****

* * *

 **[ID Escape (Active) LV4 EXP 65% / CP: none]**

 **Used to escape Instant Dimensions.**

 ** **Stronger Instant Dimensions may be escaped at high level.****

* * *

 **[Mana Shield (Active) LV28 EXP: 77,95% / MP: 360]**

 **One of the most basic defense skill using mana.**

 **The shield's strength and density increase with the user's INT and skill level.**

 **You can cast 28 Mana Shields together.**

 ** **Additionnal** **360** **MP used per minute.****

* * *

 **[Meditate (Active) LV14 EXP: 51,36%]**

 **Men invented Meditation to engage in contemplation or reflection, or in mental exercise for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness. Later, it was used to achieve inner piece and self control, and to train their chakra sense.**

 **If the user move while meditating, it interrupt the skill.**

 **Increases HP regeneration by 170% when active.**

 **Increases CP regeneration by 170% when active.**

 **Increases MP regeneration by 170% when active.**

 **Increases Stamina regeneration by 170% when active.**

* * *

 **[Kage Bunshin No Jutsu (Active) LV22 EXP: 8,05% / CP: 156 per bunshin]**

 **The Shadow Clone Skill, an advanced non-elemental clone. Each clone is capable of individual thinking and possesses the same stats as the original, the user's total chakra and MP is split evenly among himself and his clones. Upon dispelling, its chakra and experience returns to the user. Clones can't raise physical stats.**

 ** **A clone must have at least** **1780** **CP.  
Each clone has ****32** **HP.  
Base casting time: ****1,9** **seconds.****

* * *

 **[** **Water Walking(Active) LV12 EXP: 21,4% / CP: 88 per minute ]**

 **A training method used to gain more skills with chakra control. This training involves releasing a constant amount of chakra from the bottom of one's feet, and using that to stand on water.**

 **While active, you can walk on liquid surfaces.**

 **Passively increases CKRC by 6%**

* * *

 ** **Since your CKRC passed 50, you gained the skill [Sense Chakra].****

* * *

 **[Sense Chakra(Passive) LV1 EXP: 12,3%]**

 **You can sense chakra directly all around you. With great mastery, you could be able to differentiate people, and detect lies.**

 **Range and precision increase with skill level.**

 **Versatility increase with INT.**

 **Range: 25m**

 **Meditation quadruple the range of this skill and greatly increase precision.**

* * *

 **A/N: To think that I nerfed most of the skills that were in The Gamer... I augmented the MP cost of all his skills compared to Han Jee Han, hopefully it will keep him from being to broken.  
**


	21. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Review replies:  
**

 **TerrorofDeathHaseo666: Kage bunshin added.**

 **QuantumZero: stats fixed.**

 **Ddragon21: Well, he didn't know his eyes turn blue when he use his [World's True Vision].**

 **I hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

The next morning, I was on my way to the academy. Apparently, the first stage of the chunin exam will be held there. So I joined Kiba and Hinata-chan who were waiting for me.

 **Self Proclaimed Alpha Male**

 **Lv 27 Kiba Inuzuka**

 **Secret Admirer**

 **Lv28 Hinata Hyuga**

"You're late." Kiba groaned as greetings.

"Good morning to you too." I replied. "And I'm not late. Just right on time."

"Good morning… Kuro-kun." Hinata-chan saluted.

"At least someone with manners." I grinned. "Good morning, Hinata-chan. Let's go."

We entered the building. There was a lot of people, and when we arrived to the 2nd floor, a small crowd has formed in front of the door. I noticed a small genjutsu transforming the numbers '207' in '307'… Why would they do that? We approached and started to watch a curious scene.

"What is going on here..." Kiba mumbled.

 **Serious Germaphobe**

 **Lv 46 Izumo Kamizuki**

 **Carefree Syrup Drinker**

 **Lv 45 Kotetsu Hagane**

Pfff hahaha! Those titles! But their level is very high for a genin though… I quietly [Obeserve]d them, and smiled. They were chunins disguised.

"… is our kindness" Kotetsu was talking to another genin with huge eyebrows, who looked like he had just been hit.

 **Genius of Hard Work**

 **Lv 35 Rock Lee**

"The chunin exam isn't easy… Even we have failed it three straight times. Those that take this exam and end up quitting as shinobis, those that die during the exam, we've seen it all. And chunins often become captains of military teams. The failure of a mission, the death of a comrade, that is all the captain's responsibility. Yet, kids like you think you can pass? We are just thinning out those that will fail anyway. What's wrong with that?"

These two chunins were probably asked to put a genjutsu here to 'thin out' weak genins who hadn't the capabilities of taking this exam. I see… Well, let's just tell the others and go up to the 3rd floor.

"I agree, but… You will let me pass through … and also remove this surrounding created with genjutsu."

I facepalmed, earning a few curious looks around me. Sasuke… Of course, you couldn't keep your mouth shut, like this Rock Lee…

 **Revenge Seeker**

 **Lv 32 Sasuke Uchiha**

 **Loud prankster**

 **Lv26 Naruto Uzumaki**

 **Uchiha Fan-Girl**

 **Lv22 Sakura Haruno**

"I'm going to the 3rd floor. He told the crowd casually.

"What's this guy talking about?" A random genin asked.

"I don't know..." someone wondered.

"Ah… So you noticed..." Izumo said, smirking.

Sasuke smiled.

"Sakura, you must have noticed first, right?"

"Huh?" She seemed surprised that Sasuke actually talked to her. Well, I was too.

"Your analytic ability and genjutsu know-how is the most improved in our team." He praised.

He _praised_? Is this really Sasuke?

"Hehe..." She blushed, and grinned. "Of course, I noticed a while ago, because this is the second floor."

"Yup!" Naruto grinned, as if he knew it.

I walked out of the crowd.

"Congrats guys. You just informed all the people here that there was a genjutsu, instead of just going up to the 3rd floor. Very smart." I told them.

Team 7 glared at me. At least they seemed to agree to something at this moment.

"Kuro-teme! Why you..." Naruto began, but was interrupted.

"You're the guy who went to my shop! You're taking the chuunin exam already?"

I turned to look at the owner of the voice.

 **Tom-Boy Aiming Perfectly**

 **Lv 31 Tenten**

"Ah, that's you… "I recognised.

"You know her?" Kiba asked, surprised. I was going to answer, but Kotetsu took action before I could do anything.

"Not bad… but all you did was see through it!" he jumped and threw a kick at me. I was going to parry, but the genin with huge eyebrows intercepted him and stopped his foot.

"You're fast." I noted, raising my eyebrows.

"Hey… What happened to the plan? You're the one who said we shouldn't attract attention to ourselves."

 **Jailed Bird**

 **Lv34 Neji Hyuga**

"Well..." He hesitated, eyeing Sakura and blushing.

"Oh, no..." Tenten sighed and shook her head.

He walked to her and told her :

"Hi… My name is Rock Lee. So yours is Sakura… Let's go out together! I'll protect you till I die!" He said the last part giving her a thumb up while grinning and blushing.

"No… Way… You're lame..." She responded. Ouch.

Lee lowered his head and look down, and Naruto grinned.

"Hey, you two."

Sasuke and I turned to Neji.

"What's your names?" He asked us, and I was flattered that I was considered on the same level of threat as Sasuke.

"When you want to learn someone's name, you should give it first." Sasuke replied, smirking.

"You're rookies, right? How old are you?" he questioned.

"I don't have to answer you."

"We're 12." I answered him, and got a glare from Sasuke before he left with his team. "You're Neji, right? The cousin of Hinata-chan?"

"Indeed." He looked at Hinata, but gave no sign of recognition to her.

"Pleasure to meet you." I nodded to him, and left with Kiba and Hinata-chan, following team 7.

We were walking in a hall, when we heard someone again:

"Hey! Guy with black eyes..."

Sasuke turned, and before Kiba could reply, he said:

"What is it?"

It was Lee. With a very serious face.

"Will you...fight me right here?"

"You guys go ahead." I whispered to my teammates. "I'll watch this."

Hinata-chan nodded, and Kiba sighed. "Don't be late." he warned me before leaving.

"A fight right now?" Sasuke repeated.

"Yes." he nodded. "My name is Rock Lee. When you want to learn a person's name, you introduce yourself first, right? Uchiha Sasuke..."

"Heh, so you know?"

"I want to fight you." Lee affirmed. "I want to test my techniques against the off-spring of the genius ninja clan. Plus..."

He stared at Sakura. After a couple of seconds, he... winked at her.

"EWWWW! Those lower eyelashes are… ewwwwwww! Hairstyle is lame… and those thick eyebrows..."She muttered, shivering.

"You are an angel!" He sent her a kiss.

"Kyaaaaa!" Sakura screamed, and avoided the kiss comically. I raised my eyebrows.

"Come on, he's not that bad..." I mumbled, and Naruto chuckled near me.

"HEY! Don't throw weird things!" she shouted.

"You don't have to be so mean..." Lee remarked sadly.

"Challenging me knowing the Uchiha name… frankly, you're a fool." Sasuke declared, and I chuckled a bit at that. Sasuke had a little less physical stats than me: in the 45 on average. But Lee was in the sixties… That will be fun to watch.

"You're about to learn what this name means, thick brows."

"Please." 'thick brows' smirked.

"Wait."

We turned to Naruto.

"I'll take care of thickbrow. Just give me 5 minutes." I shook my head at that.

"Naruto… He's _literally_ two times stronger than you." I meant it. "And he's a step above Sasuke. I don't think you could..."

"Damn it! I'm sick of hearing about Sasuke!" He yelled, and charged Lee.

He threw a punch, but Lee easily hit his hand, causing him to fall down. Naruto landed on his right, and attempted to kick him.

Key word: attempted. Lee rotated really fast, and he kicked Naruto's leg with a series of large movements with his feet.

"Leaf hurricane!" He shouted, and somehow Naruto ended up crashing in the wall at the other side of the room.

"Told ya." I shrugged.

"I'll say this. You guys cannot defeat me." He stated.

"How would you know? You haven't seen us fight yet." I replied smirking, enjoying myself.

"...Because… Right now I am the strongest genin."

"That's probably right." He smiled when I recognised his power. "But that doesn't mean we can't defeat you." I pointed.

"You seems pretty confident. Perhaps I should fight you too to prove myself." He challenged.

"What? Nah. I don't feel like revealing my cards yet." I declined, all the while smiling.

"Sounds fun, I'll do it." Sasuke accepted, glaring at me.

"Sasuke, don't! We only have 30 minutes to get to the meeting."

"I'll be done in 5 minutes."

He, too, charged Lee. And he, too, ended up rolling on the ground.

He got up quickly though, with his sharingans activated this time.

"Your sharingans won't help you." I told him, but he ignored me and ran to him.

He was throwned in the air this time, and Lee followed him, positioning himself behind him.

"Shadow leaf dance!"

But before he could finish his move, a huge turtle showed up and yelled :

"That is enough, Lee!"

What…? One of Lee's bandages was stuck in the wall by a weird weapon.

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Maito Gai**

Sasuke was so surprised that Sakura had to catch him in his fall.

"Are you alright, Sasuke-kun?!" She asked.

"So you were watching..."Lee mumbled when he landed.

"LEE! That technique is forbidden!"

"I'm sorry… I just..." Lee was bowing now, shameful. "But… I wasn't planning on using the other one..."

"Hey, hey…" Naruto came to us, and pointed his finger to the turtle. "That's… a turtle, right? Right?"

"Yes." I answered, frowning.

"YOU FOOL! You think you can get away with an excuse like that?! You already know what it means for a shinobi to reveal his special techniques!"

I remained silent, but silently approved the jonin.

"Are you prepared to pay?" Lee's sensei continued.

"Yes..."

"Then here comes Gai sensei!" There was a poof and he appeared on top of the turtle. "Geez! You guys are the epitome of adolescence!" He took a weird pose.

"He's got even thicker eyebrows!" Sakura and Naruto yelled, shocked.

"Hey! Stop insulting Gai-sensei!" Lee defended.

"Lee." Gai called.

"Yes!"

"YOU FOOL!" He punched him. "You are… you are..." He kneeled in front of his student, and tears began to shed on his face, still smiling.

"Sensei… I… I..."

"THATS ENOUGH LEE! YOU DONT NEED TO SAY IT!" Gai hugged him, and I raised an eyebrow at that.

"SENSEI!"

"Yes! This is what youth is all about!"

"Sensei!'

"It's allright Lee. Youth and mistakes come together." He released Lee and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You are too nice… sensei..." The genin was crying now. Who the hell are those two…

"But you did start a fight and almost broke my rules, your punishment will take place after the chunin exam."

"Yes!"

"500 laps around the practice range!" he shouted, pointing his fist up.

"YES!"

"Stupid..." Sakura muttered.

Gai returned to us. "Hey you guys, how Kakashi and Kurenai are doing?" he questioned.

"Fine." I answered simply.

"You know Kakashi?" Sasuke asked.

"Know him? Hehehe..." In a fraction of second, he was behind us. "People refer to us as eternal rivals..."

Holy shit! That's so much faster than Kurenai sensei!

"50 wins, 49 loses… I'm stronger than Kakashi." He affirmed, pointing his thumb at his face and grinning.

"See! Gai sensei is incredible!" Lee claimed.

"Sorry about Lee, I swear it to this beautiful face it won't happen again." He promised to Sasuke who was looking down. "You guys should held over to the classroom." he suggested while freeing Lee's bandage.

The green genin put back in place his bandage. I noticed Naruto staring shocked at the amount of injuries hidden under those.

"Good luck, Lee. Later." Gai jumped away.

"Yes. Sasuke-kun, I'll say one more thing. The truth is, I came here to test my abilities. I lied before, most likely the strongest genin is on my team. I've entered this exam to defeat him… and you're also one of my targets. And you too."He added staring at me. "Be prepared during the exam!" He jumped away.

We were all alone now.

"Well, that was instructive." I declared. "See ya."

I walked away, leaving them in the silence. I entered the classroom, and rejoined my team.

"So? What happened?" Kiba asked.

"Eyebrows kicked their asses." I grinned, and Kiba chuckled.

"K-Kuro-kun!" Hinata-chan protested.

"Sorry, Hinata-chan."

"There's a lot of people..." Kiba groaned along with Akamaru. I decided to examine the participants.

"Well, there's ninjas of other villages too..." I told him.

 **The Loneliest of All**

 **Lv 35 Gaara**

 **Wind Fan User**

 **Lv 31 Temari**

 **Sinister Marionetist**

 **Lv 31 Kankuro**

Those three were the most high level in Suna. When I observed Gaara, I found out he was a jinchuuriki like Naruto, but was psychologically instable and a psychopath… I'll have to avoid him.

 **Follower of Orochimaru**

 **Lv 28 Dosu Kinuta**

 **Follower of Orochimaru**

 **Lv 27 Zaku Abumi**

 **Follower of Orochimaru**

 **Lv 26 Kin Tsuchi**

Holy shit. The Oto-nins were all followers of Orochimaru?! What does that mean? Is the village hidden of sound led by the sannin?

I frowned, and suddenly, my eyes fell on a grass ninja. What…

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Orochimaru**

...the fuck?

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading. That was a long one... Next chapter this evening.**


	22. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Review reply:**

 **dzbegoun : Thanks for the advice. I'll try.**

 **I hope you enjoy this.**

* * *

Orochimaru is participating the chunin exams? With three of his followers? Which are from Oto… Is he the founder of the village?

I crossed his glance, and quickly looked away… This… I must tell somebody. I waited a little bit, and I slowly walked out of the room. When I got out, I found Kakashi talking to team 7.

"… are my proud team. Now go!" I heard him say.

"Kakashi!" I called him, and he turned to me. "I… I must talk to you. This is important."

"Whatever it is, you can say it in front of my team. Talk." He replied.

I sighed, and closed the door.

"I believe Orochimaru is attempting the exam." I declared. "He's disguised as a grass genin."

Kakashi's eyes widened, along with Sakura's.

"Are you sure?" He finally asked.

"100% sure." I stated.

"Come with me. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, you come too."

"What? The meeting begins in 10 minutes!" Sakura protested.

"If what Kurota-kun said is true, then the meeting will be canceled." He began to walk, leading the way to a room with high chakra presences.

"Kakashi? Why are those genins here?" Asuma asked when we entered.

"Kurota-kun will tell you." He said simply. Kurenai-sensei looked at me with a questioning glance.

"Orochimaru is attempting the exam disguised as a grass genin." I repeated, and everybody gasped.

"How do you know that?" sensei asked.

"I'm a chakra sensor… plus, I didn't tell you but I have a special dôjutsu unique to me." Kurenai had a surprised expression on her face now. "The hokage or my dad will confirm you that."

Sakura gasped, Naruto frowned and Sasuke narrowed his eyes at me.

"Who is it?" Maito Gai asked.

"A woman with long black hair from grass… with a huge hat." I described, remembering him.

"I'll go inform the hokage. Stay here." Kakashi shunshined away. Soon, every jonin had shunshined away to take action.

"So… You have a unique Dôjutsu?" Sasuke questioned while we were waiting.

"Yeah." I looked at him in the eyes ans activated my [World's True Vision].

He frowned. "What does it do?" He interrogated.

"Pretty cool stuff."

Kakashi reappeared, and told us:

"They say it's too dangerous for the genins to intervene right now, so they will wait till the second part of the exam begins. That way, we can maybe understand what he wants." He summarized to us.

"Great. Oh, I forgot to say, but the Oto-nins are all working for Orochimaru." I said.

"I see… Do your best to keep your distances from them all. We will deal with him once the second part begins… Do not tell this to anybody."

"Yes!" We responded, and quickly came back to the classroom, just before there was an explosion of smoke on the platform and the examiners appeared.

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Ibiki Morino**

"Thanks for waiting… I am Ibiki Morino, the examiner for the chunin selection exam's first test."

"We will now start the first test in the chunin exam..."

He explained that the places where we seat will be random picks, and that we'll need to do a written test… to Naruto's horror. I was placed on the right side of the room. Then, the examiner told us his rules: First, we start with 10 points, one for each of the 10 questions. Second, the points will be added with the points of your teammates, to have the total score on 30. Third, if you cheat, you lose 2 points. And if you reach 0, you'll be asked to get out. I was surprised at this one… Why not just ask them to get out at the first time? That doesn't make any sense… Anyway, he finished with the final rule: if one of somebody is expelled, his 2 teammates will be failed too.

I looked at Naruto, who was sweating under the glares of Sasuke and Sakura… How could they act like that with a monster in the room?

"The exam will last one hour. BEGIN!"

Everyone turned their subjects and soon we started to hear writing noises.

I quickly looked at all the questions. That didn't seem difficult… for 50 WIS and INT, that is.

The first is a cryptogram. I easily resolved it in 3 minutes and passed to the second question.

Question 2 required to explain attacks options in a certain position. I skipped it.

I responded like that until I got to the 10th question, but I needed to wait 30 more minutes for the examiner to reveal it. I missed 2 answers… Hmmm…

I smirked, and activated my eyes. I looked in front of me to see through the guy and read his answer, but he did not have it either.

Suddenly, I remarked something, there were genins that had a level above 40! As I [Observe]d them, I learned that they were in reality chunins… I see…

They wanted us to cheat. If not they would have fired anyone who was caught, not just retire points.

Without turning my head, I read what the chunins were writing. It was pretty creepy, but I could see through my own head, and even turn my eyes to look behind me without moving. They had the answers. I quickly copied them, and turned my paper over. Then I glanced a Hinata and Kiba's first answers, who were correct too. They must have figured out the purpose of this test.

It was fascinating to see all those ninjas cheating. Soon, a kunai was thrown to a poor genin who was caught cheating five times.

"You fail."

At some point, I sensed something interesting. Someone was using mana! I searched quietly, and I found the responsible, who had fallen asleep: Ino Yamanaka. She used mana _and_ chakra together, to be exact.

 **Uchiha Fan Girl**

 **Lv23 Ino Yamanaka**

I didn't know much about the Yamanaka clans, just that they had mind techniques… But they always said it was only chakra… Could it be that they're using mana without knowing it? Well it was in very little quantity, anyway...

I'll have to search about that. I felt the connection she was forming, and I looked at Sakura, who had a smug expression on her face. I see… She's possessed by Ino.

I spent the rest of the remaining time keeping an eye on Orochimaru. I also noticed another weird guy:

 **Orochimaru's Right-Hand-Man**

 **Lv71 Kabuto Yakushi**

Another powerhouse infiltrating the exam. Great. An [Observe] on him revealed some sad story about his infancy and an amnesia, along with great skill in medical jutsus...

I didn't kept my True Vision on all the time, but I kept track of them. I noticed that there were ANBUs positioned around too.

Then it was time for the 10th question.

"If you choose to take the 10th question… and answer incorrectly… You will lose the right to take the chunin exam again."

"What kind of rule is that?! There are guys here who have taken the exam before!" Kiba shouted to Ibiki.

"You guys are unlucky. This year it's _my_ rules… but I'm going to give you a way out. Those that aren't confident can choose to not take it… and try again next year." He smirked.

Slowly, people began to raise their hands, apologising to their teammates.

I looked at Naruto, who was still here, trembling. Slowly he began to raise his hand, too…

He slammed it on the table.

"Don't underestimate me! I will not run! I'll take it! Even if I'm a genin for ever…! I'll will myself to becoming Hokage anyway, so I don't care! I am not afraid!" He yelled.

Ah… _That_ was Naruto! _That_ is why I want to see him Hokage! To act like that even though Orochimaru was watching him… Though he might not know how dangerous he is...

"I'll ask you again. Your life is riding on this decision. This is your last chance to quit." Ibiki warned him.

"I follow my unbending words… That's my ninja way!" he replied, smirking.

Ibiki waited a little bit, and when he saw no one was going to stand any more, he announced: "Good decisions. Now, to everyone still remaining… I congratulate you on passing the first test!"

 **+4000XP**

 **Your level has risen by one!**

 **New quest: The second part! 2/3**

 **Pass through the second test of the chunin exam.**

 **Completion reward: 10000XP**

 **Completion failure: None**

I accepted the quest, and listened to what the man was saying.

He was explaining the purpose of this test: to cheat so that they could evaluate our information gathering abilities. The 10th question was to choose between stay or leave, in order to test our courage, and ability to survive hardships.

"You made it through the entrance. The first test is now finished. I wish you luck, guys." He concluded.

"Hell yeah! Wish us luck!" Naruto agreed.

Suddenly, I sensed someone approaching rapidly the window. The moment after, something broke in and deployed a banner.

"What's this?!" Naruto shouted, dumbfounded.

"You guys! This no time to be celebrating! I am the examiner for the second test! Mitarashi Anko! Now let's go! Follow me!" A woman shouted.

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Anko Mitarashi**

The woman wore a fitted mesh body suit that stretches from her neck down to her thighs. She had black hair styled in a short, spiky fanned ponytail.

"Ibiki! You left 26 teams?! The test was too easy this time!"

"This time, there are a lot of outstanding ones." He smiled. For a moment, I wondered if they were informed about Orochimaru… How else could they act so… natural and cheerfully when that freak is around...

"Bah, that's fine. I'll at least cut them in half in the second test." She shrugged. "Aahhh… I'm getting excited… I'll explain everything once we've changed places, follow me."

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Next chapter tomorrow. About the update rate, I will probably slow down soon. I have an exam period coming up, and the story gets more and more complicated with each chapter. It'll be more like one chapter every two days. Sorry for that.  
**


	23. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **This fic passed 100 favourites ! Oh my god that's a lot! Thank you all for your support!**

 **I hope you enjoy this.**

* * *

Orochimaru escaped.

It happened when we were heading to the forest of death, following the examiner Mitarashi. I was sensing him, seeing him, but at a moment I closed my eyes to replenish mana, and he just… vanished. He must have noticed the ANBUs… Quickly, they began to search for him, and eventually the majority of them left us.

Kabuto Yakushi was still here though. The oto team too. Well, I suppose 5 ANBUs are enough to deal with them.

We arrived in front of our destination.

"Welcome to the stage of the second stage, training ground 44. Also known as 'The Forest of Death'." our examiner smirked.

The Forest of Death was well named. It's a really sinister forest with warning pannels like 'Danger!' or 'Stay out!'. The trees were huge, and the inside was very dark.

"You'll soon find out why it's called like this."

"I think I have an idea why..." I muttered, and Kiba grinned. Suddenly, I sensed Anko throwing something at me, and in a reflex, I titled my head to the side.

 _Shtak!_

The kunai stuck in the ground behind me, missing my cheek. I threw her an innocent glance, but she simply said:

"I heard you."

"Damn."

"Now, before we start the second test, there's something I have to pass out." She shouted to the crowd, taking out a stack of papers.

"You must sign these agreement forms. There will be deaths, and if I don't have you sign these, it will all be my responsibility, hehe."She smiled. "I'm going to explain the second test…"

She explained to us that it was a survival test in the forst of death. There were 10 km between the entrance gates and the center, the tower. Each team will be given a scroll of one type, either 'heaven' or 'earth'. The goal was to obtain a scroll of the other type and bring the two back to the tower before 120 hours. We get disqualified if we lose a teammate or have him killed, or if we look what was written in the scrolls.

"Yahoo! Survival is our speciality." Kiba grinned.

" _Your_ speciality." I corrected.

"Oh come on! You're not that bad."

"Everyone, follow an instructor and go to your gates! We will start in 30 minutes!" Anko ordered.

We made our way to our gate and started waiting.

"So… What's the plan?" Kiba asked us.

"I thought survival was your _speciality_." I teased, smirking.

"W-We can make traps… Kiba is good at it..." Hinata-chan proposed.

"I can make a clone to locate enemy teams with my chakra sense too. It goes up to 100 meters now." I suggested too.

"100 meters already? It was 25 yesterday!" Kiba wonsered, surprised.

"I'm a fast learner." I said simply. I had leveled up [Sense Chakra] to level 4 in one night, thanks to my kage bunshin. "I have a dôjutsu too, but it's not as useful as the byakugan, so we'll count on you with that, Hinata-chan."

"A dôjutsu? Since when?" Kiba asked, dumbfounded.

"Since that mission to the monastery. Let's not talk about that now, we need a plan. First." I pressed, but we heard our instructor saying:

"The second test of the chunin exam begins! Go!"

We entered the area and quickly jumped in the forest.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!"

My clone went scouting ahead of us.

"Ok, let's find a place where we can set up traps." Kiba said.

"Yeah."

"Y-yes."

We found a good place with more trees than average and Kiba began to make a horrible trap involving leaches.

"He's really good at this..." I muttered to Hinata-chan, who agreed. "I'll start to meditate, to increase my chakra sense's range. You should save your byakugan for when we're moving." I advised.

Kiba soon finished his trap.

"Kiba!" I called. "Give me the scroll, I'll hide it."

"You think you can hide it better than me?" he groaned.

"Yes. Let's make a deal: you give me the scroll, and I hide it. Then you try to find it. If you don't, I keep the scroll."

"Deal." he agreed, and gave me the scroll. I turned my back at them, and discretely put it in my inventory. Kiba searched for it for a moment, but he soon gave up.

"Gah… Where the hell did you put it?"

"Secret. I'll cast a genjutsu of ourselves standing in the middle of nowhere to bring them to us." I declared, and quickly returned to my meditation.

We began waiting for a team to fall in it. Surprisingly, it took less than an hour.

"AAAAHHHHH! WHAT IS THAT!"

Kiba smirked, and got out of our hiding place. We followed him, and Hinata-chan shuddered when she saw the amount of leaches on the poor konoha team.

"Guuuh… Damn it..." The ninjas were muttering weakly.

Kiba enjoyed explaining the concept of his trap to the enemies, and activated the rest of the trap, which imprisoned them in a net suspended in the air.

"Well, that was easier than I thought. We were probably lucky with this one." I commented.

"Bah! That was just my super trap that have beaten them!" Kiba boasted.

"Yeah." I recognised.

"G-Good work, Kiba-kun." Hinata-chan praised. Always kind and eager to compliment.

"Hehehe..."

"Let's head to the tower!" I said to them.

* * *

Clone's POV

I was trying to find teams to inform the original me of their position. It was strange, to be a clone with the Gamer ability. You don't see your name and level any more above you, but you still see it on the others. You can train skills, but not put points into stats.

I was searching when I discovered Sakura and Sasuke.

Facing Orochimaru.

Holy shit… What is he doing here? I need to warn them. I jumped, and landed at their side, making them throw surprised glances at me.

"Run away! This woman is Orochimaru!" I yelled.

"What…?" Sasuke and Sakura said, shocked.

"I see… So it was you who warned the ANBUs…" Orochimaru goaned and let out an incredible amount of killing intent.

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

Sasuke vomited, Sakura kneeled and started crying, and me… I just stared at him. He was surprised that I wasn't affected, but soon he threw two kunais at me and Sakura. I just had the time to jump in front of her and deflect it with my kunai before I heard a caracteristic ' _Ping!_ ' and felt 2 snake's fangs sink in my neck.

I dispelled.

* * *

Back to the original's POV

We were approaching the tower when my clone's memories hit me.

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

 **Through continuous exposing to various dangers, a skill [Sense Danger] was created.**

 **[Sense Danger (Passive) LV1 EXP:0,00%]**

 **A natural survival instinct. It allows the user to sense when a danger might appear.**

 **The higher the skill level, the earlier and the more precise you can sense danger.**

I stopped, staring wide eyed at the red rectangles.

"K-Kuro-kun?" Hinata-chan called, since she was the reargard.

Holy shit. Orochimaru is happily wandering in the forest, slaughtering genins. Sakura and Sasuke were probably already dead… I remembered their location: approximatively 10 minutes from here…

"Kuro?" Kiba called.

"My clone just dispelled. Naruto's team is in trouble."

"So what?"

"They'll be killed very soon. We have to help them." I claimed.

"What! Why would we risk our lives to save theirs!"

"I-I agree with Kuro-kun! We m-must save them! They are… our comrades!" Hinata'chan affirmed, expression clearly worried.

"It's 2 vs 1 then." I stated. "Majority wins. Let's go before it's too late!"

I made a clone to get help of jonins and started leading the way to their position, while Kiba was mumbling something in his jacket about not counting Akamaru's vote.

When we approached the place, I sensed them a little bit away from their original position.

In a short moment, we saw Sasuke and Sakura, standing on a branch with their back turned to us, facing Orochimaru. Naruto was inconscious, suspended on a tree.

We landed at thair sides, me between Sakura and Sasuke, Kiba and Akamaru to the right and Hinata-chan to the left.

"You again… You're pretty brave, to come back here... or you're a fool." Orochimaru sweetly licked his lips.

"You don't scare me." I stated.

"Really?" he laughed, and ripped his face, revealing his true features, before releasing another wave of killing intent.

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

"Why are you here?" I questioned, ignoring the red boxes.

"You… You're really not scared… How?" He seemed genuinely surprised.

"Its my speciality, to remain calm in every situation." I told him, turning my eyes blue and smirking. I was no fool, I knew that we don't have a single chance against him, but I wanted to gain time for my Kage Bunshin to get help.

"Huhuhuhu… Your speciality…" He chuckled, and noticed my eyes. "Huhuhu… Interesting… I didn't expect to see an other dôjutsu today… and an unknown one, to top it all... This is my lucky day..."

"What are you talking about?!" Sasuke shouted.

"If you want to see me again… then survive, and pass this exam. Of course defeating my men the sound nin trio on the way." He told us.

"Why would we want to see you again?" I questioned.

"Huhuhu… You'll want to…" Suddenly, he did a few hand seals, and his neck started growing at an astonishing speed, throwing his head at us. Before anyone could react, he bit Sasuke to the neck.

"Bastard!" I yelled and attempted to cut his neck with a kunai, but he rapidly turned to me and deflected my attack. His speed was from a whole other world… I generated as many mana shields as I could, but he broke them easily. In a desperate attempt to escape, I tried to create an Instant Dimension, but I had consumed all my mana with the shields and my eyes. Shit. Seems like I don't have enough WIS.

' _I'm going to die_ ' I thought. But he didn't killed me.

"Let's see if you still remain calm after this..." The snake-man whispered to me.

And then, he bit me too.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Next chapter tomorrow.**


	24. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Review replies:**

 **For those of you who didn't like last chapter and thought that was lame: well, maybe they're right. I'll do my best to make it interesting, but keep in mind that this is my _first_ fanfic, and in addtion, I'm french and I don't consider my english to be perfect, so don't expect literature. If you don't like the story anymore, just go read something else, that's what I do when I read fanfictions. That said, I took note of your complaints and I'll try to improve the quality of this story. _But don't expect miracles._  
**

 **The story is from Kurota's POV. He don't know what happened when Orochimaru escaped after the 1st task, so there are things that happen that I won't mention. And Kurota didn't know Orochimaru was attracted by bloodlines.**

 **For the others, well, as always, thank you for your support!**

 **I hope you enjoy this.**

* * *

The moment he bit me, pain poured into my body and I had to kneel.

Well, for a few seconds.

[Gamer's Body] nullified the pain promptly, and soon I was standing up again, looking for Orochimaru. I saw him disappearing in the forest... Well, that was clever of him because various ninjas arrived at this moment.

"Ugh...AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Sasuke screamed in agony. I [Observe]d him, and discovered the special status effect [Cursed Seal of Orochimaru] active on him. I couldn't remove it with my mind heal.

"Sasuke!" Sakura screamed.

"Where did he go!" The ANBU asked us, but I was already pointing to the direction where I saw the snake-man.

The ninjas went after him, but a Jonin remained behind.

 **Individualist Kenjutsu Expert**

 **Lv 65 Hayate gekko**

"Follow me."he ordered. "We're going to the tower."

"Kiba, carry Naruto. I'll carry Sasuke." I said.

Kiba did as I told him, still shaken, and soon we were jumping from branch to branch. My eyes looked at the mark on my neck, 3 black tomoes, that I was hiding with my hand. That thing… gave me +5000CP… There must be a price. Well, Sasuke suffered like hell and was screaming, but that couldn't be all. What did Orochimaru say? ' _If you want to see me again…_ ' Why would we want that? To remove the curse, or for more power, maybe? ' _Let's see if you still remain calm after this…_ ' Well, for now I was handling it well. Was this curse supposed to excite me? To make me lose my self-control? To let me be driven by my emotions?

If it was, it wasn't working on me. Sasuke, though… He might not be able to handle it.

We arrived at the tower, and we saw that the other teams were gathered there as well, except Oto of course. They evacuated everyone when my clone reported that Orochimaru was in the forest of death.

"What about the chunin exam?" I asked Hayate.

"I don't know yet. Probably reported. You genins rest here while the Hokage decides what to do."

"Ok…" I accepted. We separated from team 7 and I got into a chamber with Hinata-chan and Kiba.

"Man… That guy was a monster… What he did with his neck..." Kiba groaned. "How the hell are you able to remain calm like that all the time? It's… creepy!"

I shrugged. "It's just how I am. I'm tired, I'm going to sleep."

I needed to take care of this rapidly. I don't want anyone to find out that I had a cursed seal… Though Hinata must already know. Maybe Sasuke too... So I entered a bed and got some sleep.

When I woke up, the usual blue rectangle greeted me.

 **You have slept in a bed. HP, CP & MP fully restored and all status effects removed.**

I opened my status window, and I indeed found out that the status effect [Curse Seal of Orochimaru] was gone.

"He's awake!"

I turned my head and looked at Kiba, Hinata-chan and Kurenai-sensei who were staring worried at me.

"Kurenai-sensei! Did they caught him?" I asked, hopeful.

"No, he got away…" She sighed.

"Damn."

"More importantly! How are you? Did you get nightmares?"

"No." I answered.

"Show me the seal Orochimaru put on you." she requested.

"What seal?" I feigned innocence. "He put a seal on me?"

"He bit you! You have a seal on your..." She stopped herself when she saw that my neck was totally normal. "Where is it… Strip!"

"What?" I blinked. "Do we really have to do this?" I sighed.

"Yes!" Kurenai replied categorically.

"Ok, but you two get out. Kiba will check." I negotiated.

"No way. You could hide it with a genjutsu Kiba wouldn't see a thing."

Kiba frowned and pouted at that.

"Why would I want to hide it?" I questioned.

"This seal messes up your mind. Now, strip."

"No way! I'll go find someone, like Neji Hyuga, to ask him to look at me. That way, no need to strip, and he'll be able to see through genjutsu." I declared, stubborn, and we got out to search for Hinata's cousin. After a little moment, we crossed Kakashi.

"Kakashi-san! Naruto told me you had a sharingan, right? Please scan me to prove that I don't have the curse seal!" I plaided.

Kakashi looked at me and then at Kurenai, chuckling perversely.

"Why don't you let your sensei take care of this? She seems pretty eager to verify..." He teased, and Kurenai frowned.

"Just do it, Kakashi." She glared at him.

"All right." He pushed up his headband and revealed his sharingan, looking at me. "He does not have it." He constated, surprised.

"What? But… Hinata-chan saw it with her byakugan!" sensei said, turning to Hinata-chan.

"I-I saw it yesterday… I swear... And Orochimaru b-bit him..." Hinata-chan affirmed. I looked at her, feeling guilty.

"Maybe you were shaken by what happened. That's okay." Kurenai-sensei gently said to her, and the Hyuga girl frowned at me. "Well, it seems it's not here. That's good." sensei relaxed.

"And Sasuke? Is he okay?" I asked.

Kakashi's face darkened.

"Orochimaru cursed him. He is suffering, but if he survived until now, I think he'll get through this."

I nodded, wondering if at higher levels of Mind Heal I could take care of things like that.

"The hokage will give a speech soon. I suggest we hurry." he added, and we left to the 1st floor.

We arrived in a huge hall where all the teams were aligned in front of the hokage, except Sasuke. The examiners were here too, along with The Jonins senseis of the each team. We walked to the side and took place too.

"First of all, I must apologize. Orochimaru was once a ninja from Konoha, and it was our responsibility to deal with him. Unfortunately, we failed." The hokage started, the expression serious. "As you all know, Orochimaru infiltrated the candidates of this exam, and even though we were warned of his presence, he still managed to escape. That alone prove how much a threat he represents. That is why we have decided to cancel the second task of the chunin exam."

After that, whispers and groans could be heard in all the hall.

"However, we didn't cancel the chunin exam itself. You will have to pass an other task in 5 days before attempting the third task." The Hokage continued. "The task will be the same, but will take place in a different location. When the time comes, meet examiner Mitarashi Anko at the Hokage's tower. That is all."

He dismissed us and the teams slowly began to leave.

"So, we'll have to retake it. Damn Orochimaru." I mumbled.

"It's still our specialty, if it's like the second task." Kiba remarked.

" _Your_ specialty."

"Hehehe..."

"I'm going to see how Sasuke is to the infirmary." I declared.

"Sure."

"See ya." I waved my hand at my teammates and began heading to my destination. When I arrived, I saw Sakura and Naruto seated next to Sasuke's bed, talking.

"Hey, Sasuke, how are you?"

"Fine." he groaned.

"And you?" Naruto asked. "They say you don't have it..."

"Indeed." I activated my eyes, to examine the curse… Fortunately, there was a seal to keep it in control for now. "You'll be able to take the next task?" I asked Sasuke.

"Of course. I could take it now." He stated arrogantly.

"Right… So what happened after my clone dispelled?"

"Sasuke fought Orochimaru." Sakura answered.

"Hey, I helped too!" Naruto protested.

"That's right, where were you when that monster showed up?" the kunoichi demanded.

"Some snake ate me! But I managed to get out using Kage Bunshin, and he vomited us!" the blond responded, grinning.

"As expected of you, Naruto." I smiled. "Well, Sasuke, please rest well. I'll take my leave now. See you to the next task."

I left the room, and went home. On the way, I crossed the Suna team. There was something wrong with that Gaara… With his skin… I used my [World's True vision] and found out that he had a small amount of sand all over his skin, forming an armor. _That_ was why he was unscratched even after all these missions.

"Stop staring at me… Or I'll kill you." Gaara threatened when he noticed me.

I left quickly before he took action. Seriously, that guy is a psycho… I understand that he had a tough childhood but still…

When I got home, mom hugged me.

"Kuro-chan! You're okay… What that monster did to you?"

"He bit me, but I'm fine now." I answered, hugging her back.

"How come you don't have the curse mark after being bitten like that?" Dad wondered. "Maybe it's invisible..."

"I don't think so. I feel like usual."

"If you say so…" He accepted, but he still had a doubtful look on his face.

After we took dinner, I went out for a bit of training with my weights.

I created an Instant Dimension, and created a clone to help me grinding.

There was something I had to try since I crossed Gaara and his sand armor. Maybe I could create a _mana_ armor? I began to emit mana from all my body, trying to stick it to my skin. That was a lot more difficult compared to the mana shield, but after a few tries I got it.

 _Ping!_

 **Through continuous testing of condensing mana, a skill [Mana armor] has been created.**

 **[Mana Armor (Active) LV1 EXP: 0,00% / MP: 300]**

 **An advanced defense skill using mana.**

 **The armor's strength and density increase with the user's INT and skill level.**

 **Additional 300MP used per minute.**

 **Additional MP used to repair damaged parts.**

Nice. It costs less than [Mana Shield], and I felt like it wasn't very strong yet, but it was invisible so with a little bit of training I'll be able to keep it active all the time!

I created a clone to train my chakra and mana skills as he meditated, and started jogging to raise my physical stats.

I'll grind like hell during those 5 days.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading! Next chapter tomorrow.**


	25. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Review replies:**

 **Lost Words of the Past: If you read a lot, that helps.  
**

 **I hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

I gained 3 levels. How? Well, I simply decided that I needed more XP and went farm zombies in my Instant Dimensions. They didn't give a lot of XP, but at a point I had a little surprise. The zombies… began to fuse. Yes, to fuse. Into a giant zombie.

 **Lv34 Legion Zombie**

Of course, my first reaction was to leave my Instant Dimension.

 **You cannot escape from this area.**

I frowned. If I couldn't even escape from my own Instant Dimensions… That was probably because of that Legion Zombie. Basically, it must be some kind of boss that I needed to defeat to continue.

So, I [Observe]d him and found out that this thing had 15200 HP. That's a lot, but the description said that he is very slow and strong too. So I'll just need to kite it. In other words, hit and run with my energy bolt.

I threw one at him, and did 100 damage or so. That's… not enough, I need to fire 152 times and it consume 78 MP per shot… I needed something more powerful.

I created a clone to distract him, and tried to shape my mana to create something more penetrative.

Like a spear, for example.

 **Through continuous testing of condensing mana, a skill [Mana Spear] has been created.**

 **[Mana Spear(Active) LV1 EXP:0,00% / MP: 500]**

 **A skill that allows the user to create a spear made of mana and to throw it to his target.**

 **Attack power depends on INT.**

 **Range: 10m**

I immediately tested the skill, and threw the spear to the giant. This time, I did about 1000 damage to the monster. So I'll have just enough mana to kill him.

I dispelled my clone, and started to throw mana spears at him. I was quite proud of my new creation, it's 10 times more powerful than a [Mana Bolt], but only 5 times more expensive.

As I threw my 8th spear at him, I Sensed Danger coming from the legion zombie. I prepared myself to jump away, and indeed, the giant broke the ground with his hands and threw me a giant boulder. I dodged easily, of course, and finished it with a critical strike.

 **Your level has increased by 2!**

 **You've defeated the boss monster Legion Zombie**

 **You've received the title Zombie Slayer**

 **[Zombie Slayer]**

 **Obtained by killing the boss monster Legion Zombie.**

 **50% increase damage when fighting undeads.**

 **50% increase in defense when fighting undeads.**

 **All stats +10 when fighting undeads.**

My first title! Pretty overpowered when I'm hunting zombies… I wonder if there are other ways to gain titles…

I closed the windows, and I prepared to leave the Instant Dimension, but I noticed some things lying on the ground.

The Legion Zombie had dropped items! There were money, 5 red bottles and a soul stone bigger than average.

I first took the money. 200000 ryos! Is it real money? How could my ability do this kind of thing? As usual, I shrugged and didn't question the weird things my ability could do and put the money in my inventory. I wasn't surprised any more, and I had a little idea of what those bottles could be…

"Observe."

 **[Low grade Recovery Potion – Rank: Normal]**

 **A low-middle grade recovery potion that instantly recovers 200HP.**

 **Tastes like strawberry.**

...As expected of my power. I dropped a Health Potion… How? The mana could be explained by the Mind's Power cult, but this? It was impossible, it broke the rules! It created something from scratch...

I shrugged again, put them in my inventory and turned to the soul stone.

 **[Low Intermediate Soul Stone – Rank: Normal]**

 **A crystal created by integrating quite a lot of souls.**

 **Useful for many things.**

A better version of the Lowest Soul Stone, I guess it heal more advanced status effects. That was useful, indeed, but only for healing. The last line implied that I could use those stones for other things…

Again, I shrugged. Maybe I'll discover it someday. I put it in my inventory and left the Instant Dimension to return to my classic training. I had enough about zombies for a long time, I'll need to level up [ID Create] to discover some new monsters.

At the end of those 5 days, I had gained one point in every physical stat and chakra stat. It made me grit my teeth that I was only one point away in CKR from a new skill…

My chakra sense could now reach 250 meters, and my [Mana Armor] only costs 230 mana per minute, so I could keep it on all the time. I had also my [Mana Spear] at level 14, and to my surprise, the skill started to create one more spear at level 10, doubling my damage, and my range also increased to 38 meters. This skill was really starting to becoming my most powerful one to deal damage.

All in all, I was satisfied with my training, although the stats were becoming more and more difficult to raise. At least I could compensate with Taijutsu, if I found another style.

This morning, I was heading to the Hokage Tower with my team, and it was the day of the Chunin exam's 'second' task. My quest was still active, and strangely the Completion Reward had even increased.

"So, where do you think the task will take place?" Kiba asked us.

"M-maybe another… training ground?" Hinata-chan suggested.

"Most likely." I agreed. "That can't be worse than the Forest of Death, any way."

"I thought it was a nice place for survival training." Kiba said, and Akamaru barked to notify his agreement.

After a moment, we arrived at the Hokage Tower. Even though we were there in time, we were surprisingly the lasts to come.

"Good. Since everyone is here, follow me, I'll lead you to the location of the second task." Anko declared.

We started to jump from roof to roof until we reached… training ground 45. Seriously?

"Welcome to training ground 45, the stage of the second task of the chunin exams! Also known as The Marsh of Pain!" the examiner proclaimed.

I sighed. They didn't search very far to find another place…

"I won't explain you the rules, since you guys already know them. So just sign the paper, take your scroll and follow your instructor."

We did as she said.

"The Marsh of Pain… How many names do they have like that?" Kiba groaned, as we were walking after our instructor.

"I was wrong." I told my teammates, as I evaluated what was behind the metallic fence. "It's worse than the Forest of Death. There are marshes everywhere, I doubt there is any dry land in there."

"Damn."

"Do you know how to walk on water using chakra?" I demanded.

Hinata-chan nodded, but Kiba shook his head.

"It's here." Our instructor told us. "Wait for the signal."

"So, what's the plan this time?" Kiba questioned.

"Pretty much the same as before… Though maybe we'll need to find teams instead of waiting for someone to fall into our trap, because there are less teams than before. We still have 5 days to survive… I suggest we approach the tower, but not to much, and set up a trap. If we don't catch anyone the first day, we can always move, and I can leave a clone behind to keep watch of the trap." I proposed.

Kiba agreed, satisfied, and Hinata-chan nodded again.

"The second task begins! Now go!" The instructor shouted to us, opening the gate.

We jumped into the heavy vegetation, and started heading to the building.

"We should try to find a dry area, but the other teams will probably have the same idea." I declared. "I think it's safer if we remain in the marsh."

"Crap, that sucks." Kiba groaned.

"But… Kiba-kun can't walk on water." Hinata-chan remarked.

"We can try to find an area when the water is not too deep, so that we can walk _in_ the water." I suggested.

"That would be great..." Kiba sighed.

"I-I'll use my byakugan… to find the right place." Hinata-chan said as she activated her dôjutsu.

In less than an hour, we were able to find the ideal place, near the tower but not to much, and with a marsh not really deep.

"All right! I'll set up the trap." Kiba grinned.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu." I said, a clone appeared and got away to scout teams. "I'll cast the genjutsu of us and start meditating."

Hinata-chan deactivated her byakugan and sit besides me on the branch.

Once Kiba was done, he went on another branch and waited too.

Half a day passed. From time to time, we were hearing screams in the forest, but we tried to not pay attention.

At last, a team began to approach our position.

"Get ready." I whispered, and the other two nodded, Hinata-chan reactivating her byakugan.

The enemy was slowly drawing near us. At a point, they stopped, looking at my genjutsu. It was a really well made illusion, I don't think an average genin, or even chunin or low jonin, could look through that.

They surrounded the genjutsu, suppressing any potential exits. Then, they finally took action.

They threw shurikens at the illusion, and immediately jumped to attack after that. Of course, I made our illusions avoid the shuriken and get ready for combat.

When they landed in the water, the leeches did their work and attacked them. This time, Kiba had placed them in the water instead of the trees.

They didn't scream, but one of them knelt, while the others started to jump away, understanding the trap.

Kiba activated the net. The ninja who knelt got caught with a lot of leeches, but the other two managed to avoid the trap. At this moment, we attacked them.

"Demonic illusion – Tree Binding Death." I muttered, casting one of my best genjutsu of them, taught to me by Kurenai-sensei.

From their point of view, they were being robbed of their mobility as they were seeing a fast-growing tree coiling itself around them.

Then, I knocked one of them out while the other injured himself to escape, but Hinata and Kiba interceipted him. The poor man tried to get away from us but I once again used a genjutsu to make him confusing directions, and he ended up coming right at us. When he noticed his mistake, it was too late and Hinata closed his principal tenketsus while Kiba was restraining him.

"Wow, that was easy, once again." I smirked.

"Let's see..." Kiba searched them. "Gah! An earth scroll!"

"Damn it." I gritted my teeth.

"W-what do we do?" Hinata-chan asked. "W-we don't have … leeches any more."

"Yeah… I guess we'll start to move." I sighed.

"All right! I was tired of waiting!" Kiba grinned, and Akamaru barked his excitement.

"Let's bind them and take their ninja equipment." I suggested.

They didn't have a lot of things on them. One of them had the standard equipment, an other had some military pills that replenished chakra, and the last had… a sword. I took it, and began to perform some movements.

"You're taking their sword too? Damn, you're really merciless." Kiba commented.

"Just testing something." I said, continuing my moves.

"Kuro…? We have to go now." Kiba told me after a minute.

"Just a little more..." I mumbled.

After 4 other moves, I finally got it.

 _Ping!_

 **Through continuous manipulation of swords, a skill [Kenjutsu Mastery] has been created.**

 **[Kenjutsu Mastery(Passive) LV1 EXP: 0,00%]**

 **A skill that allows the user to better handle sword weapons.**

 **10% increase in damage with swords.**

 **10% increase in attack speed with swords.**

 **1% increase in DEX when using swords.**

I smiled, satisfied, and turned to my teammates who were staring at me.

"Let's go."

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading. Next chapter tomorrow, if I have time.  
**


	26. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Hello everybody. Sorry there wasn't any chapter yesterday. I'll change my update rate because I enter an exam period of about 5-6 weeks, so from now on there will be only 3 chapters per week, maybe 4 if I manage.**

 **Review replies:**

 **Remzal Von Enili: Good idea, I'll think about that.**

 **vampWalker709: That, my friend, is greed.**

 **Thank you for your support and the typos.**

 **I hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

We were a reconnaissance specialized team, so we found other teams really rapidly. Between Kiba's scent, Hinata-chan's eyes and my sense of chakra no one could hide from us.

We were currently following a Konoha team, waiting for night before striking. Darkness always helps in surprise attacks, and with our senses we weren't really affected. I purposely selected a weak team, level 27 on average.

Night fell, and we began to sneak onto them. They were sleeping in a tree, except a watcher… It would be best to strike them all in one shot. I could use explosive tags, of course, but I didn't want to kill anybody if possible.

Instead, we decided to put a genjutsu on him but that was a little tricky, because I needed to affect the mind. It would be a lot easier if we came to eye contact or touch contact…

We remarked that they had set a few traps too, some destined to enemy ninjas, some to catch animals. The area around their tree was a deep marsh…

Unfortunately, I couldn't use my Instant Dimensions without my teammates noticing I suddenly disappeared. I'll reveal what I'm able to do in the future, but not today. I wasn't ready to face kekkai gekkai hunters. It's so much simpler to just be normal.

So I decided to send a clone who will slowly approach under water. I could do it myself with the [Gamer's Body], I won't catch any illnesses, but I don't think my teammates would agree.

I began to meditate to sense my clone's progression. He was already at the bottom of their tree, under the branch the watcher was sitting on. He quietly emerged from water, and began walking along the tree. Soon, he was directly under the enemy, and he touched his head from behind. The guy fell asleep, dreaming of a quiet watch in the night.

Suddenly, I sensed something with the other two's chakra signatures. One of them wasn't asleep any more.

"One of them is awakening. Go." I whispered quickly and we jumped to help my clone, who didn't notice as he wasn't meditating.

As we landed on the branch, the guy fully awoken, and alerted the others. Hinata-chan took care of the one under genjutsu, neutralising his main tenketsus, and Kiba threw a kick to the ninja who alerted the others. Me and my clone took advantage of the third's surprise to throw shurikens at him. He avoided most of them, but 2 landed in his foot, destabilising him. At this moment, my clone did a Kawarami with a shuriken that landed behind him and knocked him out.

I turned to see the remaining guy get overwhelmed by Kiba and Hinata's combined assault.

"Good job!" I praised, and searched for their scroll. "Damn it! Earth again? Really?"

"Seriously?" Kiba sighed.

I threw him the scroll.

"Crap." He groaned.

"I-I think … we should rest a little." Hinata-chan suggested, looking disappointed too.

"Yeah. Let's change place before establishing a camp." I agreed, and when Kiba nodded too, we jumped away to find a safer place.

"Here." Hinata-chan said, pointing to a normal tree a little away from the others.

"I'll take first watch." I volunteered, and my comrades went to sleep after we ate.

Nothing happened in the night, but in the morning it slowly began to rain.

"Great…" Kiba groaned. "The scents will disappear now."

"At least we have rain hood." I mumbled. "Let's go find teams again before the scent goes away."

We started to track enemies again, and soon, Kiba's voice raised:

"Stop, I smell something..." He knelt and sniffed the branch. "Yeah… someone passed by here."

"Good. Can you tell us what direction they took?" I asked.

He jumped on a few other branches around.

"Yeah, this way."

We headed in the direction Kiba indicated, concentrating on our senses.

"I know that scent..." The dog-man muttered, and Akamaru barked to agree. "It's… shampoo."

I smirked at that. "I only know two kunoichis that could take such good care of their hair like that..."

"Sakura-san and… Ino-san." Hinata-chan guessed.

"Exactly. Do we continue? We need a heaven scroll after all." I demanded to the others.

"Of course!" Kiba answered, looking offended. "In fact, it's even more exciting if we get to kick Sasuke's ass."

Hinata-chan remained silent for a moment, and when she opened her mouth, she was interrupted.

"I recognise the scents now! It's team 10."

She sighed in relief. While she probably didn't like the idea of attacking ancient classmates, she won't disagree if it's not Naruto's team, and so she gave a reluctant nod to me.

"All right. Let's go after them!" I concluded.

"We should wait for the night before striking, as before." Kiba added.

"Yeah, but for now we must get into sensing range." I declared.

We tracked them a bit, and after a moment I finally found them.

"I sense them." I announced, as Akamaru shook himself to get rid of water. "In front of us, a little bit to the right. Ah, they are coming towards us now!"

"Quick, hide!" Kiba pressed. "We'll take them by surprise."

A minute later, team 10 arrived, and passed in front of us. Of course they didn't notice us, since we were hiding.

"Stop." Shikamaru called, and landed on the branch we were standing on previously, just below us. "Someone was here before."

"How do you know?" Ino replied.

"Look this branch. It's more humid than the others, whereas a lot of vegetation cover the sky. There's no way it could have been the rain… Troublesome… It's as if something wet was standing there...there's a lot of traces though..." He touched the branch, and saw a water drop slowly descending the dry wood. "...It's pretty recent. Maybe they're even watching us at this moment."

"Right now?" Ino repeated, and began observing suspiciously her surroundings.

"Maybe they're scared of us!" Chôji grinned.

"That, or they're waiting to stab us in the back." Shikamaru darkly declared. "Or maybe they're not here. Either way, let's be cautious. It's troublesome."

At this moment, a gout dropped from Kiba's sleeve and fell on Ino, making her blench. Hinata-chan and I looked at her, eyes widened and anticipating.

"Hey, you in the trees!" Ino shouted, a little bit scared. "We know you're here! Get out!"

"There's no point in hiding any more..." I muttered to the others, who nodded.

We jumped and landed in front of them, facing them on another branch.

"Damn it." I mumbled.

"Kurota! Kiba! Hinata! It's you..." They sighed.

"Hey, don't relax like that! We came to steal your scroll!" Kiba yelled angrily.

"What?" Chôji said, surprised.

"As if you could pose a threat to us!" Ino boasted.

I narrowed my eyes at her. She really didn't change at all, always bragging around like that. Maybe we could use that to our advantage…

"Hey, let's not fight if we don't need to." I soothed Kiba. "What scroll do you guys have?" I questioned innocently, and before Shikamaru could stop her, Ino was already vaunting her team's skills.

"Ha! We already have two heaven scrolls and..."

"Ino!" Shikamaru interrupted, but it was already too late. He turned to me, saw my victorious expression, and narrowed his eyes, anticipating my reaction.

"What?" Ino asked, eyeing me ans Shikamaru.

"That's great! Let's make a deal." I proposed.

"A deal?" Shikamaru repeated. "Go on."

"Conveniently, we have two earth scrolls. So let's trade, an heaven scroll against an earth scroll!" I explained, smiling at them.

"Prove it then." Shikamaru required.

I smiled, and took out an earth scroll. I only had one in my inventory, so no need to hide.

"Here." I said and threw them the scroll.

"Kuro?" Kiba gasped.

"What? We have two others any way." I whispered. "Or you're afraid they flee and we can't track them?" I taunted, and the dog man frowned, remaining quiet.

"All right." Shikamaru agreed when he examined what I gave him. "It seems you aren't lying. Here." He threw us his own heaven scroll.

"Thanks." I caught it, and examined it too... It seemed genuine.

"See you at the tower." Shikamaru said.

"Wait!" I stopped them. "We can go together! That way, it'll be 6 against 3 when encountering other ninjas, and we both have skills the other could use." Well, not really, but they were ninjas nonetheless. That alone would increase our attack power.

"That would be great!" Chôji enthusiastically affirmed.

"You want to team up?" Ino said, surprised.

I shrugged. "Yeah. That's not against the rules."

"I see..." Shikamaru nodded. "Indeed, it would be safer for both of us. Let's do that."

I grinned, and Kiba sighed, disappointed that there wouldn't be any fight.

"Great." I told them. "Let's adapt our formation. Kiba in front, to smell enemies. Then Chôji and Shikamaru behind him, before me and Ino. Hinata-chan should be our rearguard, with her byakugan."

"Don't tell us what to do!" Ino protested.

"It wasn't my intention." I assured her. She was starting to be annoying. "I was just..."

"This formation seems good to me." Shikamaru lazily evaluated. "Let's just go now. I'm tired of those swamps. Too troublesome."

"Me too..." Kiba groaned, and we started heading to the central building.

We were approaching our destination but Kiba was slowly changing direction.

"Hey Kiba! Where are you going? Keep the right direction in mind!" I shouted.

Everyone turned to me, confused.

"But we are going straight to the building." Kiba frowned.

"What? No, you are slowly going to the left."

"No, he wasn't." Ino frowned.

"He was." I looked at their faces, scanning their expression. They actually believed what they were saying… I turned to Hinata-chan.

"Well, could you please activate your byakugan and tell us who's right?" I requested.

She verified, and declared surprised:

"The building is… a lot more to the right. Ah… T-There is a… genjutsu."

"A genjutsu?" I raised my eyebrows. I didn't detect this? They must be pretty good…

"Y-yes…"

"I see." I mused, and sit on the branch I was to meditate.

"What are you doing?" Ino asked.

"Sshh! He… meditate to better sense chakra." Hinata-chan quieted her.

When I entered my meditation, I noted that, indeed, there were very few chakra traces in the air. I concentrated and tried to break over the enemy, and I found 3 ninjas with creepy masks a bit far away from us.

 _'They must want to tire us, making us going around in circles'_ I mused.

"There are enemies. There." I pointed to the location of the enemies.

"I-I see them… They have masks…" Hinata-chan described.

"Let's just continue. This type of enemy is powerless if we're able to see through their genjutsus. Too troublesome to deal with." Shikamaru lazily proposed.

Well, that was true, and apparently they didn't seem to want to attack us if we weren't tired.

"Okay, but I'll take the lead. I don't want you to lead us in a trap." I accepted.

Leaving them alive would lower the amount of participants after all, and I wasn't worried for Naruto since he had Sasuke and his eyes to see through their trick.

In the end, we arrived at the building. We opened the main gate and walked into a hall.

"Now what?" Kiba asked.

"I don't know." I admitted.

I examined the hall. There was an inscription on the wall, and as I read it, I understood.

"We must open the scrolls." Shikamaru sighed. "It's a riddle or something like that and it talks about heaven and earth."

"Yeah, I think so too." I agreed.

"Ah? Let's open them then." Kiba pressed.

I took out my team's scrolls and opened them. Inside were written the kanjis for 'person' and rapidly, they began fuming… I widened my eyes and I threw them on the ground.

 _Poof!_

"What is this?" Ino demanded.

"A summoning jutsu in a seal." Shikamaru answered, as he stared at the cloud of smoke.

"What did it summoned?" Chôji wondered.

The smoke cleared, and I smiled when I recognised the man.

"Finally! Took you time to get your ass over here!"

"Hey Dad." I greeted.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Next chapter should be thursday, I think.**


	27. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Thank you for your support!**

 **Review replies:**

 **trainel: I think he's OP enough like that.  
**

 **I hope you enjoy this.**

* * *

"Dad?" Kiba repeated, turning to me.

"I'm one of the chunin affected to greet the exam takers here!" my father told him. "Congratulations, all of you three pass!"

Me and my team grinned.

"Hell yeah!" Kiba shouted. "I had enough of those swamps!"

"Bark!" Akamaru agreed.

"We could have arrived earlier," I smirked at my father, "but we came across two teams that had the same scroll as us."

"As expected of you, son!" Dad laughed and ruffled my hair. "But don't get cocky, there's still the third task!"

I chuckled a little at that, and I was going to reply but I was interrupted by another explosion.

 _Poof!_

Team 10 had opened their scrolls, and Iruka had appeared.

"Hey! Long time no see!" he saluted everyone. "How come you six arrived together?"

"We trade scrolls, since we each had 2 of the same type. After that, we decided to work together to come here." Shikamaru answered lazily.

"I see… That's clever indeed." Iruka approved. "Well, since you're early, you'll have to wait three more days for the task to end. Until then, you'll live in the building's rooms here."

"So what would you have done if we had opened the scrolls in the forest?" Ino asked curiously.

"We would have beat you up!" My dad declared.

"To be exact, you would have been put in a condition of unconsciousness for the remainder of the test period. Those were our orders." Iruka clarified.

"I see." I said simply. I was a bit surprised, as I doubted Iruka's capabilities to knock me out, but I remained silent. He had to be a chuunin for something after all.

"The third task will be tough, don't push yourself too hard..." Iruka added.

"What are you saying!" Dad shouted, clapping his hand on the back of Iruka. "The third task is perfect to test their skills!"

"What is it?" Kiba demanded curiously.

"The Hokage will tell you at the end of the second task." My father smiled. "You should..."

 _Poof!_

A cloud of smoke exploded and he disappeared.

"What the hell? What happened to him?" Kiba wondered, turning to me, and I shrugged.

"Someone probably tried to open a scroll, and Fusoku-san was summoned in an other place." Iruka explained. "Well, you should pick a room now. I'll lead you there."

We followed him in a corridor and soon we found our rooms.

"I'll leave you now. I must remain ready to greet the others." Iruka told us and retired.

The rooms were pretty simple, with 3 beds each and a little table.

"I'm going to sleep…" Shikamaru sighed, and he and his teammates went in their room and closed their door.

"I'm going to rest too." Kiba said, and Hinata-chan nodded as well.

"I'm going to train a bit before. I'll see you later." I waved my hand at them and began to explore the building.

There wasn't really anything else besides the room's corridor and the great hall, except maybe a different room… for meetings maybe.

I also found out that the Suna team arrived a day before us, completely unscratched. That was quite the accomplishment, they must have found an other team really rapidly.

We waited three days, and I trained a little to increase my skills. I even managed to get my [World's True Vision] to level 35, and I saw another new thing: Tenketsus. I was now able to see the body's chakra pathway clearly while my eyes were activated, which meant I could learn the Jyuken taijutsu style, for example. I keep getting surprised by the new things I learn, maybe my vision's angle will increase too after a certain level?

I also trained a little bit in Kenjutsu, but without the basics the progression was slow.

The 4th day, Shino's team came, and the 5th day Tenten's team arrived too, and finally team 7 got in at the last minute.

"Took you time." I muttered to Naruto as we were aligned in the hall, waiting for the Hokage to start his speech.

"Wow! Look at that!" He whispered, ignoring my remark. "Everyone is assembled!"

I looked up, and indeed there was a lot of people. The Hokage, of course, was here along with Iruka, Kurenai-sensei, Kakashi, Asuma, Anko and my father.

"Hokage-sama will now explain the third test! Listen carefully." The examiner Mitarashi shouted in her microphone. "Now, Hokage-sama, please."

"Yes. But before I explain that, there is something I'd like you to know..." He started a speech about the true meaning of the chunin exam being a replacement for war. I couldn't help but roll my eyes, of course the Hokage would lecture us… he talked a lot of time, answering the various genin's questions. At last, someone interrupted him:

"I don't care what it is… just hurry up and tell us what this life-and-death battle entails."

That's Gaara for you. He even had the balls to glare at the old man…

"Yes, I'll explain the third test but..." the Hokage began, but once again he was interrupted.

"Actually… _cough…_ I apologize Hokage-sama… From here on, as the referee, will you please allow me, Hayate Gekkô..."

"… By all means." The sandaime accepted.

"Hello, everyone, I'm Hayate." The man faced us, he was the one who escorted us to the central tower of the forest of death. "Umm… Before the third test there's something I'd like you to do..." I narrowed my eyes. This was starting to be annoying… Just get to the point already! "Umm… It's a preliminary for the third task, to decide who gets to participate to the main event."

I widened my eyes.

"Preliminary?" Sakura repeated.

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked, annoyed at the idea of doing more efforts.

"Umm… The first and second test may have been too easy this year… _Cough…_ We have too many people remaining… According to the rules, we must have a preliminary and reduce the number of participants for the third test."

"No way..." Sakura mumbled.

"Umm… So those who are not feeling well… or those who wants to quit after hearing these explanations… Please come forward now, since we'll be starting the preliminary immediately."

Silence.

"It will be an individual battling. Are you all sure?" Hayate demanded as nobody was moving.

Everyone continued standing where they were, waiting.

"Very well… Umm… Now, let's begin. The preliminary will consist of one on one fighting, you will basically fight as if in a real life confrontation. Since we have 18 entrants, we will conduct 10 matches and… the winners will advance to the third test. No rules. The fight continues until one of you dies or is knocked out or admits defeat. If you don't want to die then quickly acknowledge your defeat. If necessary, I'll jump in and stop things. Your matches will be decided by this..."

A panel began to move on the wall, revealing a screen.

"...This electrical scoreboard. Now Let's announce the 2 names of the first fight."

Everyone stared at the screen, waiting in anticipation. Finally, it revealed the first match:

 **Sakura Haruno vs Neji Hyuga**

I raised my eyebrows, as Sakura gasped at the sight of the announcement.

"Will everyone except the two participants move to the upper level?" Hayate requested, pointing to the balcony.

"Good luck, Sakura-chan!" Naruto encouraged her as she didn't seem well.

We walked to the balcony, and Hayate shouted:

"Begin!"

They didn't begin. Sakura was standing there, ready, but fear could be read on her eyes. The Hyuga noticed this.

"You should surrender. I am stronger than you." He advised severely. "You can't compete with an Hyuga. I see fear in your eyes, all your body is telling you to flee..."

Sakura froze, and her stance began to weaken.

"You can't fool my eyes, Haruno. You know you can't win."

"Shut up! Sakura, kick his ass!" Naruto shouted.

That seemed to help her a bit, as she took out a kunai and threw it at Negi, who easily caught it in mid-air.

"Very well." He said simply.

He then took action, and ran at her. He easily penetrated her defence, violently caught her by the throat and threw her on the ground, still maintaining his grip. Sakura fainted.

"Winner: Neji Hyuga!" Hayate decided after verifying her current state.

"That was fast..." I muttered.

"You! I'll beat you up!" Naruto threatened Neji.

"She was weak." Neji simply declared and I approved.

"Kuro!" Naruto protested.

"He's right. She should have admit defeat." I told him.

"Teme! I'll beat you up too!"

"Haha, maybe you could try if the screen match us." I laughed as I stared at the scoreboard.

 **Kurota Farasuke vs Ino Yamanaka**

 _'Well, that will be an easy match.'_ I thought as I descended in the hall to face her. She had a pretty serious face, it seems she's going to give it her all…

"Begin!"

We didn't move at first either, but soon she threw a kunai at me and I avoided quickly as I did a rapid hand seal and looked at her. When her eyes met mine, she instantly froze, and I smirked.

"Genjutsu..." I heard Shikamaru explain to Chôji.

I was going to show her her worse nightmares, like Sasuke going out with Sakura for example, but my chakra started to feel weird all of a sudden.

 **Since your CKR reached 50, you gained the skill [Potent Chakra].**

I froze, and my eyes widened. Not now! Pain began to fill all my body, or rather, it felt like someone was manipulating my chakra inside it, and I lost my control over my Genjutsu.

"Urgh..." I groaned and fell on the ground as everyone was wondering what was wrong with me.

"What is happening to him?" Kiba asked Kurenai-sensei.

"I don't know. It's like… that time at the monastery..." She mused, eyes narrowed.

I tried to get up, but I heard Ino's voice:

"Shintenshin no jutsu!"

I tried to move, but I was too destabilised as my chakra was still unstable and my mind was hit by Ino's.

Or rather, her spirit was violently stopped when it encountered mine. I felt her trying and trying again to enter my mind, but it was useless.

The pain disappeared slowly, and I got up. I looked at Ino's inanimate body, and I couldn't help but worry. What if she couldn't regain her body because of me? Only then I noted everyone staring at me, expecting something.

"You wish to say something?" Hayate even asked me.

Ah, they must think I'm Ino right now… So they expect me to surrender.

I remained silent, and [Observe]d the Yamanaka. She had the status effect [Asleep]. I sighed, and finally relaxed.

"I think she's asleep." I told Hayate, who raised his eyebrows. "That means I win, right?"

He approached Ino to verify, and finally nodded.

"Winner: Kurota Farasuke!"

"Yosh! Good job, Kuro!" Kiba shouted, grinning.

Like a gentleman, I carried Ino's body to the balcony and left her to her sensei, who was staring at me. He must be astonished that I managed to escape her jutsu. Then I returned to my team and read my new skill's description.

 **[Potent Chakra (Passive) LV1 EXP: None]**

 **The user's chakra becomes more thick and dense, allowing him to spend less chakra in jutsus.**

 **This skill levels up every 5 CKR points.**

 **15% increase in total CP amount.**

 **15% decrease in cost of CP skills.**

 **100% increase of CP recovery rate.**

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading! I don't know when I'll have time to write chapter 26.**


	28. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Sorry for the delay. I was busy working for my exams. I have another one Saturday by the way.  
**

 **Review replies:**

 **Sajuuk: He won't be able to learn elemental spells just like that. You need a skill book for that, he can't just invent every skill he needs. But I assure you that he _will_ be OP in the future.**

 **Remzal Von Enili: I know. See this chapter. :)  
**

 **Shieldage: The Hokage didn't tell Kurota that Naruto** **'s dad was the former Hokage in chapter 6. He just learned about it with [Observe].  
**

 **Thank you all for your support, I am slowly improving my english, and I thank Sendicard who pointed out my mistakes with pronouns.**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"Could you please stop staring at me like that? The next match is beginning."

Hinata-chan and Kurenai-sensei frowned, and looked away. Even though I looked at them while saying that, it was meant for the others as well. Right now, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Neji were staring hard at me, and I suspected the Hokage was observing me as well, whereas Shino and Tenten descended to begin their fight.

Since I got that [Potent Chakra] skill, my chakra felt different, more dense… and of course, every ninja with a little sensory ability had been surprised to see it change like this. It just doesn't happen. Chakra is unique to all people, it defines a person so much that chakra sensors can even recognise people with it, and I'm pretty sure nobody could recognise my chakra as my own right now. This will attract attention to me and questions will probably be asked. It'll be troublesome to deal with this...

I sighed and refocused on the fight. Shino was in difficulty, barely dodging the various weapons that Tenten was throwing at him. On the other side, she was avoiding the insects on the ground, constantly jumping around as she attacked. It was a battle of stamina, but unfortunately for Shino, Tenten had a surprisingly high vitality… If the bug user doesn't do something he'll get beaten.

At a point, it seemed that the kunoichi was running out of ammo and she quickly took out a scroll to summon more weapons. It was impressive the amount she could store in these. Again, she started to overwhelm him with her accurate throws.

After a moment, she again used a scroll to refill her weapons stock, but it didn't work for some reason.

"It's useless." Shino stated calmly. "One of my bug climbed on you and disturbed the seal."

"… Ugh." Tenten muttered while throwing the scroll away with a disgusted expression. She tried to use another, but without success, as it was also made with ink.

"Your bugs can't mess with blood seals." She grinned as she got an other scroll, much bigger. Shino tried to stop her, but she jumped away rapidly, biting her thumb. This time, she summoned a huge scroll that was about her size, and using it she again summoned enormous death tools and directly threw them all at once at Shino. The blades seemed to penetrate him before he could react, but thankfully he had been able to perform a Kawarimi with an insect clone he had created. Tenten was going to launch another attack, but the Aburame stopped her.

"I give up." He declared and walked away without even waiting for Hayate's statement.

"Winner: Tenten!"

Shino's techniques are based on chakra absorption via his insects, so if they can't touch the enemy, he's stuck at using normal techniques.

"Tenten, the fire of your youth is truly shining!" Gai congratulated her while Lee was approving next to her, and Neji simply gave her a small nod.

"It seems Shino doesn't like long range fighters." I observed, and Kiba agreed:

"He doesn't look the type, but his taijutsu was actually pretty good back at the academy."

As we were chatting about the match, the next one was showed.

 **Naruto Uzumaki vs Ami**

"All right! It's my turn!" Naruto shouted, excited. "It's about time!"

"Good luck." I told him as he passed next to me, and I looked at Shino's team mate.

 **Uchiha Fan-Girl**

 **Lv 23 Ami**

Ami passed the graduation exam for genins with us a few months ago. Honestly, I didn't like her. She was popular back when we were children, and she used to bully others, like Sakura for her forehead, or Naruto like everybody, or… me, for my gaming habits.

"Impressive the dead-last managed to get so far. I guess you must thank Sasuke-kun for that!" She taunted, proving her title was indeed well deserved.

Naruto grinned. "Don't underestimate me!"

"Begin!"

They instantly rushed at each other and began to fight. Ami had better taijutsu, but Naruto had better physics and stamina. However, even with that, she seemed faster than Naruto…

"Impressive… She already know chakra enhancement..." Kurenai-sensei commented.

"Chakra enhancement?" I repeated, and I activated my eyes.

"Yes. By learning to create and wield their chakra, ninjas unconsciously enhance their bodies with it to make themselves stronger, faster and more durable than the average human being. That's why we ninjas are a lot stronger than civilians." Kurenai explained, switching to teacher-mode. "The next level of chakra enhancement is to consciously focus it in different parts of the body, such as their legs to run faster or their hands to hit harder. Most ninjas reach this stage once they start learning skills such as tree climbing and water walking as it gives them more awareness and control over their internal chakra flow. It takes years to refine the technique, and usually ninjas begins to use it at Chunin rank, so to be able to already perform it like that after only 3 months, this kunoichi is truly impressive."

"I see." I said simply as I observed the flow of Ami's chakra in her body. I heard about that before, but I didn't know there was a more advanced technique.

 _Ping!_

 **Through listening to a master's teachings and continuous observing, the skill [Chakra Enhancement] was created.**

 **[Chakra Enhancement(Passive & Active) LV3 EXP: 57,13% / CP:?]**

 **Humans can surpass their limits by manipulating chakra and concentrating it in certain body parts. With more mastery, one can acquire incredible strength and speed.**

 **Allows the use to enhance a certain user's body part using CP. Cost depends on the amount of chakra the user wishes to use.  
**

 **The precision, speed, versatility and power increase with CKRC and skill level.**

 **Passively increase CKRC by 3%.**

 **Passively increase STR, VIT and DEX by 3.**

I grinned when I read the blue rectangle. _That_ is a skill I needed! Plus, I had already some experience in it somehow. I deactivated my eyes and refocused on the fight.

"I don't see what's the big deal! I can do it too." Kiba remarked, not impressed.

"Yes, but yours is a special jutsu of your clan." Kurenai-sensei reminded him. "You enhance all your body at once, and it wastes a lot of chakra. It is much more difficult to focus it on single body parts while fighting like she does. A good example of mastery of this technique is Tsunade, one of the sannins."

I looked at Sakura, still unconscious. She could probably use this technique if she learned it, and perhaps she could have even given Neji a good fight with it... but instead she did nothing, remaining at her academy level. I shook my head and refocused on the fight.

"Is that all you have?" Ami taunted. "As expected of you!"

She kicked Naruto in the chest and he was thrown on the ground.

"It's over." she declared to Hayate, who didn't react.

"I said… Don't underestimate me." Naruto groaned as he was getting up. He looked at Sasuke for a moment, who was watching him with interest.

"Kage Bunshin No jutsu!"

4 clones appeared next to him, and Ami widened her eyes. They began to rush at her, but she retreated while throwing shurikens. One landed on a clone's arm, and he exploded in cloud of smoke.

"They're real?!" She gasped, disbelieving.

The remaining Narutos took advantage of her surprise and reached her. One of them punched her in the jaw, and another attempted to kick her in the head, but she recovered from her surprise and jumped above him, enhancing her legs.

"I won't lose!" She yelled, and she did a few hand seals. After a second, blue chakra began to flow around her arms and legs, improving them as much as possible for her. Various genins gasped when they saw the colour glowing around her limbs.

Within a few seconds, the purple haired girl had closed the distance and was beating up the clones. Rapidly, only the original remained and she threw a right hook at him. Naruto took it fully and he was sent flying several meters away.

"Damn it..." he groaned, but Ami was already on him. He threw his body to the side, barely dodging before forming the clone hand seal. Immediately, 10 shadow clones appeared and charged their opponents. Ami beat them up, but when she finished them, the original repeated his action and 10 other clones appeared.

"Coward! Come fight me!" She yelled angrily as she fought. This time, when she punched the last clone she didn't let Naruto any time and rushed at him with speed that surpassed my own. She was throwing a powerful punch to his stomach when she suddenly fell on the blond.

"What the…?" The blond gasped and pushed her away. She remained unconscious on the ground.

Hayate approached and examined her.

"Just chakra exhaustion. Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"

"YES!" He shouted, and walked back to the balcony, leaving her lying on the soil. "Hehehe, easy..."

"She pushed herself too hard." Kurenai-sensei analysed. "That technique consumed all her remaining chakra. Normally you shut it off between each blows and movements, but she couldn't do that with that much chakra into her limbs."

"So he got lucky on this one..." Kiba grinned, and I was going to reply but interrupted myself when I heard a voice raising behind me.

"Ino! You're awake..." Asuma sighed. "What happened down there? Did you fail your jutsu?"

I turned and looked at Ino, who was slowly wakening. She blinked a few times, and her eyes met mine.

"You! What kind of crazy mind do you have..." She groaned when she got up.

"I don't know what you mean. You must have failed your jutsu." I replied.

"I didn't fail anything! The fact that I fell asleep is proof of that!"

Team 8 and 10 were watching our argument closely, also interested in what happened.

"Maybe that was my genjutsu." I declared, smiling.

"What! But you were kneeling on the ground, you were in pain for some reason..." She protested. "There's no way you could have done that..."

I shrugged. "I managed somehow."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "I'll find out anyway." she stated, and I grimaced. Ino Yamanaka loved discovering secrets and resolving mysteries, it was well known back at the academy. Once she had her eyes on something, she won't let it go until she learns the truth.

"I'm also curious, you know." Kurenai said to me when we returned to watch the current match. "As your sensei, you should tell me. I didn't sense any genjutsu down there."

"I don't know. She just fell asleep when she used her transposition. Maybe that was just chakra exhaustion like Ami."

"I see." She sighed. Obviously she didn't believe me, but we refocused on the match nonetheless.

"Nikudan Sensha!" Chôji transformed into a giant human bullet and rolled to hit his opponent. Unfortunately for him, his enemy dodged by throwing himself to the side. I tried to activate my eyes again, but I was to late to copy Choji's jutsu. Well, I probably couldn't even if I used my [World's True Vision] sooner, but trying never hurt. Instead, I ended up observing the technique his opponent was currently performing.

"Katon: Hosenka no jutsu!"

Sasuke spit out small fireballs, flying in an unpredictable manner and assaulting the poor Akimichi.

"How is he doing that?" I asked sensei as I focused on the way he moulded his chakra.

"Like all Katon techniques, he moulds superheated chakra inside his stomach before releasing it via his lungs and mouth." She explained. "Then it's just a matter of how you spit it."

I nodded and raised an eyebrow when I heard not one, but two characteristic ' _Ping'_.

 **Through listening to a master's teachings and continuous observing, the skill [Katon: Hosenka No Jutsu] was created.**

 **[Katon: Hosenka No Jutsu(Active) LV0 EXP: 0% CP: 200 per fireball]**

 **A C-rank jutsu to attack an enemy at short range, it is mostly used as a distraction.**

 **With more mastery, one can control the flames one by one with chakra.**

 **Creates a volley of small fireballs.**

 **Range: 10 meters**

 **[Chakra Nature Transformation: Katon (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0,00%]**

 **One of the basic elemental chakra transformation, performed by super-heating chakra and releasing it from a part of the body.**

 **With more mastery, control over your flames increases.**

 **Experience of this skill increase faster with high CKRC and Fire Affinity.**

 **Allows the user to transform his chakra in fire.**

 **0,5 % decrease cost in Katon jutsus.**

 **1% increase damages with Katon jutsus.**

 _'Level 0?'_ I frowned at the blue panel. It made sense if you think about it, I never used the jutsu yet, and the skill will probably level up after using it just once. What was more intriguing was the passive skill that came with it… Its description mentioned Fire Affinity. Well, I knew about it, of course: ninjas are more proficient when transforming their chakra into their element's affinity, and one can even have multiple affinities. However… I expected it to become a passive skill like [Fire Affinity] or something like that. Instead, it was mentioned as a… as a stat?

'Status' I thought, and the red box opened.

 **Name:** **Kurota Farazuke**  
 **Title** **:** **Zombie Slayer**  
 **Level: LV** **2** **4** **(** **86** **,3** **%)**  
 **HP:** **14** **54** **/** **14** **54**

 **CP:** **5** **703** **/** **5** **75** **0**  
 **MP:** **4147** **/** **525** **0**  
 **STR:** **4** **5 + 3 +** **8** **,** **64 =** **5** **6,64**  
 **VIT:** **4** **4 + 3 +** **8,46 =** **5** **5,46**  
 **DEX:** **4** **1 + 3 +** **7,** **92 =** **51,92**

 **CKR:** **50**

 **CKRC:** **5** **1 +** **12,75 =** **6** **3,75** **  
INT:** **50** **  
WIS:** **50** **  
POINTS:** **43**

 **Fire Affinity: 48**

A new stat! I could gain new stats? Or maybe it was hidden until I got the Katon Transformation skill? Either way, this was good for me. More information is always good. There wasn't any other affinities showed yet, but I suppose it's because I don't have the right skills. I frowned when I found out I couldn't raise the stat with my unallocated points.

 _'Observe'_ I thought, looking at the Fire Affinity stat.

 **24% decrease cost of fire related skills.**

 **48% increase in experience gains of fire related skills.**

 **12% increase damage of fire related skills.**

 **12% decrease damage of fire and heat.**

Holy shit, now _that_ is a useful stat! Could I become immune against fire once it reaches 400? Does it grants me a skill if I raise it to 50? And just how do I raise it, anyway? Could I even train it?

So much questions… I was thinking hard about all this when I heard a gasp besides me. I turned my head to look, and I saw Hinata-chan who was staring at the screen. Of course, Sasuke won his match against Chôji while I was musing about my new stat… I turned my gaze at the scoreboard to see her match, and I paled, eyes widening.

 **Hinata Hyuga vs Gaara**

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading! Longuest chapter so far. I don't know when I'll have time to write the next one yet. Don't hesitate to point out eventual faults, I'll do my best to correct them.**


	29. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Sorry I didn't update sooner, I had exams. And I'll have more in the next two weeks, so don't expect a chapter.**

 **Review replies:**

 **ilikepie1320: He didn't receive fire affinity through observing it, it was already there, hidden. He inherited his father's affinity for Fire. And I think you're confounding affinities and chakra nature. There is only 5 affinities, while there is many chakra natures.  
**

 **Narutochi: I didn't watch any of this, nor did I watch Naruto shipuuden. I just read it, so maybe you'll find differences like between the anime and the manga.**

 **Inimicus: I don't think this is how Hinata would say things. Too shy, and too kind.**

 **Nerfhearder: Ah, I was waiting for this question. The party system... The thing is, in Naruto you don't have internet. So the games don't have a party system, and Kurota wouldn't know about it. I'm not sure yet.**

 **Anon: He can't invest points in his affinities, and he can't train it. There is a way to raise it though, don't worry, but I won't spoil you. :)**

 **Guest knows best: It's still mana, I just justified it with the whole Mind Power thing. It's not psychokinesis nor earthbound.**

 **envy34: Thanks for the advice!**

 **300 favorites ! Thank you for your support!**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

"Get down here."

Gaara had performed a sand shunshin down the hall. Of course, Hinata-chan was scared and hesitated, so I put a hand on her arm.

"Hinata… Maybe you should abandon this match." I suggested.

"What are you talking about! Go kick his ass Hinata!" Naruto shouted.

"N-Naruto-kun..."

"This guy is a psycho. He won't hesitate to kill you." I warned. "Hell, he wouldn't hesitate to kill everyone in this hall."

Hinata-chan continued to hesitate, so Hayate called her.

"Hinata Hyuga! Please come down to begin the fight!"

"Come on, you can do it!" Naruto cheered, and I glared at him.

That seemed to decide her, and she began to descend.

"Kurenai-sensei… Please intervene if things go wrong down there." I demanded, frowning.

"No need to tell me."

She finally arrived in front of Gaara.

"Begin!"

At first, no one moved. Hinata activated her byakugan, and she widened her eyes when she examined Gaara.

"That guy has a sand armour all around his skin." I informed sensei. "He probably has nothing to fear of the Jyuken style."

"But she can't do anything if she can't strike his tenketsus!" Kiba remarked, worried.

"Yes. It is certain that she will loose." I stated. "Now all that matters is _how_ she looses."

A surprisingly large amount of sand got out of Gaara's gourd, and approached Hinata rapidly. She immediately retreated while throwing a few shurikens at the sand genin, but it was useless. Each shuriken was blocked by his sand which seemed to move automatically…

"All physical attacks are useless against him." we heard Kankuro speaking, as he made his way next to me. "Because regardless of Gaara's will, the sand becomes a shield and protects him. That's why, up to now there's never been a single person who's even put a scratch on Gaara."

"Crap." I groaned. This is worse than I thought. Taijutsu is out with Hinata's style, and she doesn't know any genjutsu or ninjutsu that would help… I'm not even sure if genjutsus work on Jinchuurikis.

At a point, Hinata ended up trapped in a corner…

'He'll kill her' I realized, feeling again the killing intent, and that's when Kurenai and Hayate decided to step in. They jumped and went as fast as possible to Hinata, but at this rate, they was going be too late…

I decided to throw a large amount of shurikens at Gaara. As the projectiles made their way to him, the sand that was going to kill Hinata retracted to protect his master. As I thought… he can't attack and protect himself at the same time with so little sand.

"I-I… lost..." Hinata muttered.

"Winner: Gaara!" Hayate called.

The sand genin glared at Hayate and Kurenai, and finally at me. I met his eyes briefly before he shunshined back to his sister.

"Welcome back, Gaara." She smirked, but he didn't paid attention. He seemed pissed that he didn't get to kill Hinata.

Me and Kiba let out a long sigh of relief as she and Kurenai returned.

"You should sit down for a moment." I advised to her, noticing the pale expression of her face. She nodded and sat against the wall behind us.

"That guy is a demon..." Kiba muttered.

"You have no idea." Kankuro shook his head while smirking, and I chuckled. "What's so funny?" he asked me, irritated.

"Look at the screen." I answered, grinning.

 **Kankuro vs Temari**

"Pff hahaha!" Naruto laughed, putting his hands on his mouth. "Good luck with that!"

"Fuck..." Kankuro swore, and walked away.

"I give up!" he declared to the examiner, and Temari smirked, crossing her arms.

"Are you sure?" Hayate demanded, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes."

"Winner: Temari!"

I frowned as I tried to imagine the possible reasons of this decision. Maybe he was scared of his sister? Or perhaps he liked her so much that he offered her the victory? Or maybe he didn't want others to know their abilities? As I was staring at the sand trio, the screen showed the next match.

 **Kiba Inuzuka vs Rock Lee**

"Yosh! Now is my chance to shine in front of everybody!" Lee shouted.

"Alright, Lee! Go do it!" his sensei encouraged.

"Yes!"

He jumped and landed on the ground before taking his stance, ready to fight.

"I got the headbowl…" Kiba groaned.

"Be careful, he's an expert in taijutsu." I advised.

He nodded and descended with Akamaru.

"Kiba-san!" Lee greeted when the dog-man arrived in front of him. "Let's have a good fight!"

"Sure..." Kiba grinned.

"Begin!"

Immediately, Lee jumped to Kiba in order to kick him. The Inuzuka dodged barely and replied with a right hook, but his opponent threw his head down and began to move his legs in large movements that were familiar to me.

"Leaf whirlwind!" The green genin shouted, and Kiba was sent flying 4 meters away.

"Damn you..." He muttered as he get up. "Akamaru!"

Both he and his dog charged Lee, and with their teamwork they were almost able to keep up with his speed.

Key word: 'almost'.

With rapid movements, Lee performed again his "Leaf whirlwind" and sent Kiba and his dog flying away.

"Ok… I'll start taking this seriously." Kiba groaned, and he threw a pill to Akamaru, who ate it. After a second, his fur turned red and I raised my eyebrows.

"You'll see Kiba at his best now." Kurenai told me, and I started paying more attention to the dog-man, who also took a soldier pill.

"Jujin Bunshin!" he shouted, and he and Akamaru transformed in another version of Kiba, extremely angry and savage, their body glowing blue.

"Here we come!"

They jumped violently to Lee, who avoided just in time, retreating. They pursued him, encircling him, and he had to jump above them to dodge.

"Now! Piercing Fang!" They span rapidly and threw themselves at him. To normal eyes, it looked like two small whirlwind were flying at Lee.

He took the attack, but managed to reduce a little the amount of damage. Then the beasts began to repeat their technique again and again, and Lee had to put up with it, always dodging and lessening the blows.

"Lee! Take them off!" His sensei shouted suddenly.

"But, Sensei…! Is it really okay? That's only for a time when I must protect many precious people, isn't it?!"

"It's all right!" Gai yelled, winking and taking a weird pose with his thumb up. "I'll allow it!"

Lee grinned, and he took off the weights that were on his legs. So this is why he wasn't that fast after all…

"Tch. A little less weight won't help you." Kiba smirked.

 _Boom!_

The weights had hit the ground and had formed two small craters, making the Inuzuka widen his eyes.

"I'm coming!" Lee warned, and he immediately disappeared in a burst of speed to punch Kiba in the stomach. My poor teammate bent, and his opponent took advantage of it by throwing a violent uppercut under his chin, making him fly through the hall.

He rolled on the ground and his dog got the same treatment. As they were weakly getting up, gritting their teeth, Lee moved again and this time they tried to resist a bit, but their opponent's speed was too overwhelming. He was fast enough to fight both of them at the same time, and his strength was also superior, and to top it all, the effect of the soldier pill won't last for ever.

At last, he finished the fight with a last powerful 'Leaf Whirlwind', and Akamaru went back to his dog form while Kiba was thrown on the ground, knocked out.

"Winner: Rock Lee!" Hayate called after examining Kiba.

"YOSH!" The happy genin yelled, and before he put on his weights, I [Observe]d him.

He had still the same stats than before, with or without the weights… Could he have bonuses? Lee is a taijutsu expert, so he must have some bonuses passively… At least 30% or something like that. That would put him in the eighties! This guy… was most likely as fast as a low jonin!

"K-Kiba-kun..."

Hinata-chan was worried for her teammate who Kurenai carried back to us. He didn't need to go to the infirmary, as Lee had still been gentle.

"Don't worry, he's just unconscious." I reassured her, and Kurenai-sensei confirmed.

"I… wonder who's stronger…" She said quietly, staring at Lee and Gaara.

"That depends of how hard Lee can hit." I answered. "His blows wouldn't be very efficient on a sand armour."

"I want to… get stronger t-too." She muttered, eyeing Naruto.

"I'm sure you will. You just need confidence."

Hinata-chan blushed, and nodded shyly.

"Troublesome..." We heard a loud sigh from our right, and when I turned my head I saw Shikamaru descending in the hall.

 **Shikamaru Nara vs Kôta Mizuno**

The third teammate of Shino, Kôta. The guy was about my height, with spiky brown hair, a sword in his back and a smirk on his face. Well, he was always smirking, it was just his nature. He always found things funny, and smirked to pretty much everything and everybody. Even when he looked at the Hokage, he kept the same expression. It's weird, but I had time to get used to it in the academy.

The two faced each other, and soon the examiner told them to begin.

"Shadow imitation Technique!"

Just after we heard these words, Shikamaru's shadow began to move to Kôta, and I pouted. I expected something more strategic from the king of chess.

Kôta jumped away, avoiding the shadow, and continued to do so until it stopped. He then took out his sword, still smirking.

"I guess it'll be difficult to approach you. But now I know your range with your shadow."

Shikamaru sighed and retracted his jutsu, pouting.

"Troublesome."

He started to throw shurikens at Kôta, who was dodging and parrying easily, but suddenly he immobilised, and a remaining shuriken hit him in the left shoulder.

"What… How?" he asked, confused but still smirking.

"I used the balcony's shadow to make my own move to you, expanding its range." He explained simply. "I just threw shurikens to distract you, and lead you to the wall."

Indeed, the balcony on the right side of the hall provided a little shadow along the wall, and we could see Shikamaru's thin shade reaching it.

"I see..." Kôta smirked, before being forced to move his sword to his throat.

"I'd surrender if I was you." Shikamaru advised, and he started to walk to him.

"You're right. I give up." He admitted.

"Yeah! Shikamaru!" Ino yelled.

"You rule!" Chôji shouted too.

As the two fighters returned to their respective teams, everyone began to pay attention to Hayate. There was still one match left, but everyone had already fought.

"Um… For the last match… two of you will be once again designated, even if you have already fought. Cough…" Hayate explained.

We all stared at the screen, filled with expectation. After 5 long seconds, the scoreboard finally showed the next match, and I sighed.

 **Rock Lee vs Kurota Farasuke**

Why don't I have a luck stat...

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Next chapter in 2 weeks, maybe next weekend if I find the time. I still have an other exam saturday.  
**


	30. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **I'm back! No more exams! Holidays! Christmas! Woohooo!**

 **Review replies:**

 **Naruto x hinita: Hey, good idea!**

 **Darkjaden: Yes they fight two times because they need 8 oponents for the tournament, not 9. I know in the manga they do it with 10, i think, but screw it.**

 **Inimicus: Wow dude you think a lot about this! I don't think I'll add the charisma or the luck stat, because while it would be acceptable stats, the story would be incredibly difficult to write. Imagine a Kurota with 200 in charisma. How the hell am I supposed to write a character like that? I have enough trouble already with a Kurota with INT and WIS! And a Kurota with 200 luck would just be completely dumb as everything would fall the right way in his hands. Honestly I think EVERY gamer stories should do without these two stats.**

 **serialkeller: hehehe.**

 **Roxas902: I assure you I'm not afraid of making him too OP! Just afraid of making him OP too _fast_...**

 **entelejent: Aouch. I'll try to do better !**

 **unwashed heathen: I aggree. But it wouldn't be the gamer without a party system either... We'll see later. Maybe I'll change it.**

 **jp0625: Corrected! Thanks**

 **Em Cay: I think you mean chapter 27. Corrected! I thank you for reading it!**

 **envy34: Thanks bro! I appreciate it!**

 **way of life: Sorry I don't feel like editing all the previous chapters to replace the commas by dots. Thanks for reviewing!**

 **King ofheros: lmao !**

 **Suouchan: Will there be romance? Well first let's not forget Kurota is 12. And he spent his whole life playing videogames, so he's kind of oblivious to these things. But, that being said, I can say now there _will_ be romance. I don't know how to write it, but I'll write it. Thanks for reviewing!**

 **JModulator: You mean completely delete mana related skills? Or just make mana skills consume CP?**

 **As always, thanks for your support! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Longuest so far.  
**

* * *

"All right! I get to demonstrate my skills a second time!"

Lee was already down the hall, and was enthusiastically waiting for me.

"Dammit." I groaned.

"Genjutsu should be effective against him." Kurenai-sensei advised. "Don't worry, if you do your best you can beat him."

I nodded quietly and jumped in the hall.

"We'll finally see if you can back up your words!" Lee grinned to me.

"Yeah. Let's give the crowd a good fight." I smiled weakly.

Yes, weakly. I wanted him to think I was just a weak boaster like Ino so I could surprise him.

"Begin!"

I did a rapid hand seal and tried to look at him in the eyes, but he avoided my glance. Of course, his sensei should have probably taught him how to fight Dôjutsu like sharingans, since Gai is the "eternal rival" of Kakashi.

After making sure he wasn't meeting my eyes, Lee charged me. Although he was wearing again his weights, he was still moving at a good speed, but… not as fast as me.

When he got near me, he attempted a kick first, and I easily dodged. He was going to attack me again, but I made my move first. Using my [Chakra Body Enhancement] in my right arm, I punched him violently on the jaw with all my strength, and he was sent flying several meters away, but he still managed to land on his feet.

He briefly looked at his sensei to get his agreement, most likely to take off his weights once more. I didn't wait to see Gai's answer, and I was already on him.

"Don't look away." I advised, and I once again threw a chakra enhanced fist as its head. Truthfully, it takes a lot of concentration and control to be able to enhance my strength just for a single punch like that each time I stroke, and I doubted I could keep it up if it went to a pure taijutsu fight.

Again, he was sent flying away, and I ran after him. This time he managed to get ready, and he countered me with a kick.

His foot passed near me harmlessly, missing me by an inch. Smirking, I kicked his side and he crashed on the ground.

This was the result of my genjutsu. The moment I touched his head with my punch previously, I had performed a simple genjutsu on him to make him misjudge the distances and the location of me, putting to good use the hand seal that I had done before. I was quite proud of myself, as it's quite difficult to use illusions like this on such a brief contact like a punch, and even more so when your fist is chakra enhanced.

I was going to strike again but Lee performed his favourite move again, the leaf whirlwind. I dodged most of the kicks, but the last one landed painfully on my chest and made me take a step back.

"You're better than I thought!" the green genin praised. "But… you took me by surprise! It won't happen again." He added, and started to take off his weights.

I rushed at him as fast as possible to stop him, but it was too late already as he threw his weights at me. I dodged, and retreated, thinking hard for a solution.

"I'll start get serious now!" He grinned, and he disappeared. I immediately jumped back as fast as possible, and somehow I managed to parry his first hook, but after that he moved at an astonishing speed to get behind me and throw a powerful kick in my back.

I was sent flying away, and I rolled on the ground. As Lee waited for me to get up, I gritted my teeth and did a few hand seals.

"Then I'll start getting serious too." I grinned, and blue chakra began to glow from my arms and legs.

"That technique..." He widened his eyes, and turned to Ami, who was currently insulting me for stealing her skill.

 **[Chakra Enhancement]'s level has risen by one!**

After dismissing the red window rapidly, I jumped directly at him to kick him, but he blocked with his two arms. As he was taken aback by the force of my attack, I attempted to throw shurikens at him, which he dodged by slipping under them. When he got next to me, we began exchanging blows, dodging and parrying each other's fists and feet.

"Since when Kuro is that good at Taijutsu! I thought he was a Genjutsu expert!" Naruto wondered, astonished by the fight.

"He is." Kakashi answered him. "He's currently using Genjutsu and Taijutsu together, along with chakra enhancement on his body. He's even slowly taking advantage in this fight. That's quite the genius you have there, Kurenai."

Kurenai frowned. "I didn't taught him chakra enhancement of this level. Well, I did explained him what it was, but that was when Ami used her technique."

"Lee! You can't lose here!" Gai cried. "Use your special technique!"

Lee and I continued our current fighting, ignoring him. I was actually gradually cornering him to his limits!

"Lee… He can't hear me?" Gai frowned.

"He's under Kurota's genjutsu." Kurenai explained to him. "Kuro is occasionally influencing your genin's senses when he touches him. It's not very much, so he can probably still hear you, but maybe he can't comprehend what you're saying."

"But he can see me." Gai stated, and took his 'nice guy' pose, with his thumb up and winking to his student, waiting for him to notice. The others began to take their distances from him.

Of course I didn't heard any of this, as I was too concentrated on the fight. I needed to end this quickly, as already I had consumed half of my chakra, and I struggled to perform the smallest genjutsu.

Surprisingly, I found myself smiling as I fought. I was enjoying this fight, and gave it my all! This was the first time I was taking so much fun in a fight like this. I wanted to push myself, to see until where I could go!

And suddenly, Lee somehow managed a brutal hit on my chest, causing me to stumble a few meters away.

"This is the end!" Lee declared. "You're a great fighter, Kurota-san, and you're worthy of being a chunin, but I will not lose!"

 _'The same move he did against Sasuke'_ I thought rapidly and my eyes turned blue.

He started undoing his arms bandages, and then he did something weird. One of his tenketsu in the left side of his head was being disabled. When it fully closed, all his body crisped at once and he disappeared, dashing at a much higher speed than before. Of course, I was able to follow him and read his movements anywhere he went with my eyes, but my body couldn't keep up with this.

All of a sudden, he appeared under me and kicked me violently under the chin, effectively sending me flying in the air. He then jumped after me, wrapped his bandages around me to make us spin, and dived with me to the ground.

 _'Shit!'_ I gritted my teeth and Lee left me just before the impact. I heard voices call me, and another familiar sound that made me almost smile despite the situation before...

 _Crash!_

Like the sound suggested, I crashed violently in the ground, making a crater and an explosion of smoke and ejecting a few rocks around.

"Yay! You won Lee!" I heard Tenten shout.

"Medic-nins! Now!" Hayate called, and I heard people rushing to me.

"There's no need for that." I stated simply as I get up while the smoke cleared.

Everyone froze and looked at me with disbelieving eyes, almost scared. Come on, I survived, you should be hugging me or something, right? And then, I noticed. My [Mana Armor] had took most of the hit, and normally it would be invisible, but right now it was blue around the damaged parts as it was reconstituting itself on my face.

' _Shit_ ' I thought, and my armor finished repairing. I looked around, and saw that Kakashi had activated his Dôjutsu. Sasuke too, and Neji… Oh well, everyone have their own secret techniques, I don't have to answer if people ask questions. It'll just attract attention, nothing more. Besides, I could just tell the truth and preach the truth about the Mind's Power.

I concentrated on the red window that appeared in front of me.

 **Through continuous observation of your enemy's movements, the skill [Front Lotus] was created.**

 **[Front Lotus (Active) LV0 EXP: 0,00%]**

 **The user** **kicks their opponent into the air and then** **follow the target's shadow.** **Once behind their opponent, the user restrains** **him** **and** **dive** **them into the ground head first while rotating at** **good s** **peed,** **and then the user jump away just before the impact.**

 **Requires** **8** **0** **in all physical stats.**

 **This technique damages the user's body if his physical stats aren't above 120.**

Good, but I couldn't perform it with my weak stats. What kind of technique is that? It must be pretty powerful for it to have stats requirements like that. I'm not going to test it before I raise my stats higher.

I refocused on Lee, who was panting and looking at me with wide eyes, mouth open, and he committed a fatal mistake.

He crossed my glance.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

Naturally, I had taken the opportunity and used genjutsu, throwing him in a world of pain.

Unfortunately, the guy took a kunai and sticked it in his leg, freeing him of my illusion.

"Persistent..." I muttered. "Surrender. It's obvious you're not in condition to fight any more, physically _and_ mentally."

"..." He got ready in his stance, and I sighed.

"Right. Of course." I said simply, and dashed to him after enhancing my legs. He barely avoided my fist by jumping away, but I followed him and kicked his legs. He fell to the floor, but before he hit the ground, I threw a chakra enhanced punch in his stomach, and he was sent flying to hit the wall.

I waited for him to get up, but strangely he was smiling, and didn't seem exhausted anymore.

I heard Gai talking to Kakashi on the balcony next to me:

"The lotus of the leaf… blooms twice."

"Gai! You... That genin kid..."

"Yes. He will open _them_." Lee slowly got up on his feet. "He had the ability."

"Even then, you shouldn't have taught him that! Such a dangerous technique... How many can he open?"

"Five gates."

'Gates?' I frowned as I activated my eyes again and looked at Lee with interest.

"Gates?" Sakura repeated, and I mentally thanked her. "What are these?"

"It's a 'limit removal' that is done in preparation for going into the extreme lotus. In the inner core of the body that chakra flows through are eight spots… These are known has the 8 celestial gates. They are constantly working to limit the amount of chakra that flows in the body… With training, you can learn to forcibly release these restraints using chakra, it allows you to release several times more power than usual, even as the user's body destroys itself..."

I noticed that Lee had already released his second gate, from the look of his internal tenketsus. Then he put his arms in front of his head, and…

 _'Ping'!_

 **Through listening to a master's teachings and continuous observation, a skill [Open Celestial Gates] was created.**

 **[Celestial Gates Opening (Active) LV0 EXP: 0,00%]**

 **The celestial gates keeps the body from expiring too soon and injuring itself. By undergoing intense training, one can learn to disable these points and remove the body's normal limit.**

 **While in this state, the user damages his body if he push himself too far.**

 **Damages reduces as the skill level increases.**

 **Gate of Opening : 100% increase in STR and DEX ; 50% increase in VIT  
**

 **The Gate of Opening, located in the brain, removes the restraints of the brain on the muscles.**

 **Gate of Heal: Available at skill level 10**

I was starting to feel bad, stealing everyone's techniques like this. Even Sasuke wouldn't copy so much techniques… Then again, a skill that damages the body shouldn't be a problem for me with my [Gamer's Body]. If I raise this skill's level, I should be able to open 7 gates and then heal in one night.

"The initial gate releases the brain's restraints, then the heal gate forcibly replenish your stamina… and then opening the third allow you to perform the extreme lotus."

So that's why he's in better condition all of a sudden…

"But… Any more and he will..." Sakura hesitated.

"He won't die." Kakashi interrupted her. "I'm more worried about Kurota-kun. Even if he has his weird blue armour, there's no way he can resist this."

"The third, life gate… OPEN!" Lee shouted, and his eyes turned completely white, his skin red and veins erupted around his temples.

"Observe." I said calmly.

 **STR: 241**

 **VIT: 253**

 **DEX: 248**

"Holy shit!" I shouted, and started putting some distance between us while deactivating my eyes to save mana.

"HAAAAHHH!" Lee roared, flexing his legs and clenching his fists, looking at the ground as he opened the fourth gate.

"Kuro-chan!" I heard Kurenai shout. "Just give up! You can't resist that!"

I was going to answer, but the green beast acted first. As he moved, all the ground shattered, large rocks were sent in the air, and he kicked my chin again to make me fly too. Then Lee smashed me, and reappeared behind me to smash me again, and again… My armour was in pieces now, it couldn't keep the regeneration rate, and I felt my body break under his blows as pain invaded me. While I was being smashed around, I managed to open my status window.

 **HP: 102/1454**

 **CP: 1188/5750**

 **MP: 2123/5250**

"Lee, stop!" Gai called, realising what his student was doing.

"Son!" I heard my dad's voice, along with my team's, and Lee appeared once again above me.

"THIS IS THE END!" He yelled, and I widened my eyes. I'm not going to die here! I still have my trump card!

Everyone except me disappeared before Lee finished his move, and I landed on the ground of my Instant Dimension carefully, panting and spitting blood. Of course, from their perspective, it was me who disappeared.

"Urgh… Status." I coughed.

 **HP: 102/1454**

 **CP: 1188/5750**

 **MP: 204/5250**

 **Status effects: Broken leg, broken ribs, wrist fractured, dislocated shoulder**

Wow… Look at my state… Thank you [Gamer's Mind] for lessening all the pain. As I was thinking that, the suffering finally ended, completely deleted by my skill.

I don't have enough mana to use my mind healing… then…

I dumped 20 stat points in INT, raising my mana by 2100. After that, I took out two soul stones out of my inventory and quickly healed myself. Of course, I could have restored my HP to nearly full by using my skill 4 times, but reappearing completely uninjured in the middle of the hall would raise even more questions. So with the two soul stones I healed most of my status effects and even regained a few CP. After that, I felt like I'll need to be smart to handle the questions they'll most likely ask me, so I spent my remaining points in WIS, raising it to 73.

Only a few seconds passed since I created the Instant Dimension, and I was already ready to reappear in the real world. I really need to train this skill, to be able to use it without spending so much mana.

"[ID Escape]" I groaned as I raised my right hand above me, still panting.

The world changed again, and I found myself hidden in the smoke. It probably appeared when Lee destroyed the ground. I activated my eyes and noticed my opponent who was slowly getting up. I [Observe]d him, and found out he had only a few HP remaining and a lot of negative status effects. He seemed confused, and was looking into the remaining clouds of smoke. Everyone had complicated expressions, trying to determine what happened.

I decided to perform a Kawarimi to exchange places with a rock behind him, and I kicked him in the back to put him down. He fell on the ground and turned to me.

"Y-You! How..." He managed to slowly get up, and weakly stand.

"You still want to fight?" I asked, astonished.

"Yes!"

I frowned at him. Why? He had lost, he knew it, right? Why would he always get up like that?

"Let's just stop. There's no point in getting this further." I tried to convince him. "It's over."

"N-No!" He protested, stubborn.

I glared at him, frustrated, and tired.

"Lee! That's enough!" Gai yelled from the balcony.

The poor guy turned to his master, who was crying and smiling.

"I see." I muttered, so that only him could hear me. "You don't want to dishonour your sensei. You're scared to lose because you don't want to deceive him."

I paused, and turned to look at Gai with Lee.

"What do you think he wants right now? You continuing the fight and injuring yourself? Putting yourself in danger? Or you giving up so you the medic-nins can heal you? You know, killing is allowed in this exam. If It wasn't me you were facing, but someone more cruel, heartless, he would just kill you here and now. Ninjas aren't all very kind like me. Do you think your sensei would be proud of you dying because you wanted to win? He's sufferring from seeing you in this state." I lectured him, and he weakly shook his head and started to cry too. Even I began to be sad for him...

"It's all right. You probably want to prove yourself more, to honour your sensei's teachings, and advance to the third test to fight guys like Gaara," I turned to the sand genin who was watching with interest as his eyes were radiating killing intent. "or Sasuke," I looked at the Uchiha who was narrowing his eyes at us, confused. "or Neji." I glanced at the Hyuga who had a shocked expression, frowning.

"But I think we displayed an amazing fight and you already have showed plenty of your strength. You went above anything anyone could have expected, and even if you're probably one of the strongest genin, sometimes you still lose. Everyone lose sooner or later. Don't feel ashamed, learn from this defeat, and you'll rise stronger. Because you're amazing, dude." I stated, and decided to wait for his response.

He turned to look at me with eyes filled with tears and admiration, and I felt awkward for a moment. Who am I to talk like this? A 12 year old boy who spent his life playing video games… Do I have the right to teach him life like an old man? Is this... the result of my increase in mental stats?

"I give up. I… lost." Lee finally admitted to Hayate, who had heard all my speech.

"Winner: Kurota Farasuke!" He grinned.

* * *

 **A/N: Aaaand that's it! Thanks for reading! Next chapter monday I think.  
**


	31. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

 **Sorry for the delay. Too busy trying to have a social life.**

 **Review replies:**

 **PenSnatcher: It's funny how everyone see harems everywhere each time they hear there will be romance. Don't worry, even if I'm not against it, I won't implement a harem. Too hard to write.**

 **the froggy ninja: The first gate, perhaps. But for the others Kurota will always take damage.**

 **Roxas902: I never said I'll skip the 3 years. Yeah I'll try to make his improvement gradual too, but you know he'll have a strong power up each 50 INT and WIS.**

 **vampwalker709: Well, he did the exact same thing on Gaara in the manga. And they both have armour.**

 **Leekz01: Done!**

 **JModulator: I like it better like that. And if chakra becomes mana, how do you handle the regeneration? That's the main advantage of mana after all: It regenerates per minute not per hour.**

 **way of life: Sure! I'll do that.**

 **Soulfire91: I don't know yet... But 'm planning something nice in the future.**

 **Thank you all for your support! I hope you enjoy this.**

* * *

For a moment, it was quiet. I noticed my dad who had a proud expression on his face. Naruto was clearly impressed, as if he saw me in a new light. The few that had sensory skills looked at me confused as if I was an anomaly, except Hinata-chan, of course.

Their gazes… confirmed what I was already guessing: they can't sense mana, even with Dôjutsu. When I used mana from my hand to create an Instant Dimension, they saw nothing. Neither did they sense my armour that I wear constantly. Even the famous 'all seeing eye', the Byakugan, couldn't see mana flow.

The others looked confused, surprised, or disbelieving, except the Hokage, who's face didn't show anything.

Gai jumped and came to Lee, so I left them alone.

"Medic-nins!" The Jônin called and a group of ninjas in white clothes ran to them.

I jumped back to my team, as if nothing happened, but I still felt a lot of eyes on me.

"Woa Kuro, that was an amazing fight! How did you do it to avoid the last blow?" Kiba greeted.

"Magic." I grinned, and he pouted. Well, it wasn't magic, but since I used mana...

"Oh come oooon. We're teammates! And that blue armour? You can tell me right?"

"All ninjas have their own secret jutsus, don't they?" My smile widened, and I caught the Hokage observing me.

"You're not going to get anything from him Kiba." Kurenai sighed. "I tried, but he's too stubborn. I'm more curious about how you got out of this fight with just superficial wounds like that."

I put my hands on the back of my head. "My armour absorbed most of the damage. You saw it, didn't you?"

"Yes, but how did you make such an armour anyway? You can't concentrate chakra like that, it requires very high chakra control… The usual way is to transform it in earth…"

"Se. Cret." I repeated, and Kurenai sighed. "Come on, I don't ask you about your own special jutsus, so why don't you do the same?"

"I'm your sensei, Kurota. You have to tell me, I can help you improve."

I shrugged. "You can't help me with that. And I don't need help to improve anyway. Not in that domain."

I felt guilty when her expression became a little pained for a second, and Kiba was still pouting, but thankfully Hinata-chan spoke.

"K-Kurota-kun… Here..."

I turned and found her holding out a small pot.

"Huh?" _'Observe.'_

 **Medical ointment**

 **A special unguent that will help you heal your wounds. It is personally home-made by Hinata Hyuga.**

 **Heals status effect 'Bleeding'. Heals status effect 'Inflammation'.**

 **300% increase health regeneration.**

"Ah… Thanks, Hinata-chan, but I don't think..."

"Just take it." Sensei cut me. It was difficult to know what she was thinking right now.

"Okay..." I nodded and took the unguent. "You're so kind, Hinata-chan." I remarked as I applied the unguent on the few wounds left, producing weird vapours.

"She's always helping others." Kiba agreed. "She gave one to me too, and even to Naruto! Can you believe it!"

I looked at the little Hyuga, who was blushing madly and playing with her fingers. _'She's really too kind.'_ I thought as I smiled at her.

"Well," Hayate shouted, and everyone turned to him. "with this, the preliminary trials for the round three test… has been completed!"

 **+10000XP**

 **Your level has risen by two!**

"Winners, please come down in front of us!" Anko called.

"Well... I'll see you later, guys." I said and jumped down in the hall. I positioned my self in front of the Hokage, followed by the others: Sasuke, Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, Gaara, Temari and Tenten.

"How the hell did you convince Lee of all people to give up and surrender!" the latter asked me.

" _That's_ what surprised you?" I smiled, amused.

"Of course! You should see him training, he'd never..."

"Quiet, you two." Anko hissed, and we shut up.

"To all of you who won the rights to compete in the third round test, in the chuunin exam...Cough… Congratulations. Hokage-sama, if you would please..."

"Yes." The Sandaime approached. "I'll now explain to you the main test. As I told you before in the main event, your matches will be seen by everybody. Each of you will fight to represent the strength of your countries. I'd like you to show off your powers with no reserves. Which is why the finals will be held one month from now."

"We're not going to do it here, right now?" Naruto asked, confused.

"It's for preparations. It's the time necessary to arrange the gathering of the event, and also the preparation time for your examination, so that you can get to know your enemy and yourself. You will calculate your chances of winning by analysing the data accumulated during the trial competition. It is also to let those who were badly injured the time to rest and heal."

Everyone nodded in understanding, except Gaara and Naruto. The blonde was most likely dying to leave for training.

"Now before you leave, I would like you to take one piece of paper each in the box that Anko is holding."

"I'll come around, so wait your turn." She said.

Everyone took one, and I saw the number 3 printed on mine.

"Now everyone tell us the number on that paper, starting from left. Cough..." Hayate demanded.

"I've got 2." Shikamaru declared.

"8." Neji muttered.

"5 for me." Tenten told him.

"3." I raised my voice.

"4." Temari spoke.

"1." Gaara groaned.

"7..." Naruto frowned, confused. And finally...

"6." Sasuke smirked.

"All right, now I will reveal you the final tournament. Now, Ibiki, show them the match arrangements." The Hokage requested.

"Yes..." He showed us his paper where a tournament tree was printed, ignoring the various reactions. I see… I looked at Shikamaru and saw him paling when he understood. He 'll have to fight Gaara… I turned to glance at Temari to my right, who was also openly evaluating me, frowning. From what my [Observe] had shown me, she's a skilled wind user and like to fight from distances. It shouldn't be too difficult, at least not as much as with Lee.

"Well then, you're free to start planning as much as you like. With this I'd like to dismiss you all but before that, are there any questions?"

Nobody spoke. Shikamaru was still busy shitting in his pants. I raised my hand to ask:

"So, during this month… No D-rank missions?"

The Hokage raised his eyebrows. "You can take missions if you want to. But you won't have to do your usual quota so you can fully focus on your training."

"Finally." I grinned, and Tenten giggled. Naruto and Sasuke let out a sigh of relief too.

"Well then, thanks for all the effort you exerted for these trials! You're all dismissed until a month now."

Everyone started to leave the hall, and I was going to return to my team, but the Hokage stopped me.

"Not you, Kurota-kun."

I froze. Of course he wouldn't let me go just like that. Tenten, who had heard the Hokage, gave me a sorry smile and left quickly.

I came back to where I was, waiting without a word.

"Everyone, you're dismissed. Leave us." He ordered to my team, Anko, and the others. "You can stay, Fusoku."

Dad came to stand near me.

"This was quite a fight you showed us, Kurota-kun." he began when everyone left.

"Indeed. Lee was very strong." I agreed.

"He was." The Hokage paused and smoked at his pipe. "I know you don't want everyone to know your skills, Kurota-kun, and that is a wise decision. Would I be right if I assumed you were using Hioshi's techniques again?"

"More or less." I said evasively.

"It is indeed a strange art… The Mind's Power. After what you displayed just a few minutes ago… People will want to know. The clans in particular will keep an eye on you, so don't be surprised if they approach you."

"I see." I sighed.

"I don't think so." He replied.

I tilted my head to the side, confused.

"You see, clans in Konoha are all about jutsus. They're always searching for new ones, and would gladly kill to gain new techniques, or bloodlines."

Well, I already knew that I would be targeted by kekkei genkais hunters, and I even found out recently that Orochimaru is one of them. But to think that the threat would come from the clans of the village themselves…

"So… What are they going to do?" I asked carefully.

"Don't worry, they won't kidnap you." He chuckled when he saw my gloomy expression. "They're still Konoha shinobis after all."

"What are you trying to tell me?" I frowned.

"I'm just warning you, they might find another way to benefit of your… special competences."

"How?"

The Sandaime paused, and smoked a little bit more at his pipe. He exhaled a small cloud, and finally told me:

"Marriage."

I blinked. Of all the possibilities, I didn't even considered this one!

"What! But he's still 12!" My father protested.

"That doesn't matter to them. It already happened before with even younger kids. And genins are considered adults in the ninja world."

"So what?" I shrugged. "I can't be forced to marry someone anyway. Right?"

The Hokage remained silent for a moment, before speaking again.

"You can. By your family's head, in your case by your father."

"I'll never do that." Dad assured.

"Of course not, Fusoku." The Sandaime smiled. "But the leaders of the clans are not so kind. I just wanted Kurota-kun here to know that, if someone would approach him."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"You're welcome. Unfortunately, the clans probably won't be the only ones interested in you. If you notice something strange, please inform me." The old man returned to his serious face. "That is all. You can leave."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." We bowed and get out of the building. I was grateful he didn't want to know more about my skills.

"Well. Now you'll have all the princesses running after you!" Dad joked, as we made our way through the Marsh of Pain.

"Hahaha, I don't think so. They won't come at me all of a sudden and ask me to marry them. I'm not that handsome." I laughed.

"Not handsome?" My father repeated. "Come on, you look just like your mother, you've got her prettiness!"

"That just means I look like a girl!" I replied, pouting.

"A pretty girl!" he smirked. "I wanna see you Henge like that Uzumaki boy!"

"What the hell! You're a pervert or what?" I asked him before I remembered. "Oh, right, you're a pervert. I forgot you read that book..."

"It's great! You should try it when you're older." He grinned. "The last one is particularly well written..."

"Not happening. And I thought Mom destroyed it?"

To this, dad entered a guilty silence.

"No way… you bought another?" I questioned, disapproving.

Another silence.

"… Please don't tell your mother."

"… Right." I sighed. "Anyway, the Hokage just wanted me to know that it's possible I'll be approached. I'm more worried about the last part. What was that about noticing something _strange_?"

"Don't worry about it too much." Dad advised. "And, congrats! Your fight was amazing! _T_ _hat's_ how you kick asses!" he grinned. "You're my son after all."

"Meh, thanks. I could have used some help in my training though. When are you going to teach me the elemental training? I'm more than ready now!"

"All right, all right. I'll teach you once I'm done with my mission tomorrow. Prepare yourself."

"About time." I groaned. Of course, I could have gone to the Library and search for the method myself, but it's always more convenient to get someone to teach you. More so when it's your father.

Eventually, we got out of the area and went back home.

"Kuro! You're back! How was it? Did you get injured?"

"I'm fine, mom. I think I'll rest this evening." I reassured her while giving her a brief hug.

"You should have seen his last fight!" dad praised. "That was something! It's incredible you improved so much in just 4 months..."

"I see that… You still have a few cuts. Your clothes are so dirty… and your hair is all messy." Mom remarked as she passed her hand through my hair. "You should go take a bath before dinner."

I looked at myself in the mirror of the shop, and indeed it wasn't pretty to see.

"All right." I accepted, and started to change clothes. "I'll go to the baths."

"Don't be too late." Mom told me as she left me to take care of a client.

"I'll be back in an hour." I finished changing.

"Still, I can't believe you got out of this with just a few wounds. And how did you escape that last blow?"

"I created an alternate dimension where I could heal myself tranquilly." I said casually as I walked out.

"Bwahaha! You always had a special sense of humour!" I heard dad laugh as I was heading to the public baths.

After a bit of walking, I arrived to the baths and entered the men side to take off my clothes. As I immersed myself in the hot water, I let out a sigh of pleasure before hearing a scream.

"AAAAAHHHHHH UUUUCCCHHHH!"

"Can't I have a moment of peace..." I groaned and jumped out of the water to go to the other side of the bath. There I found a familiar blonde in wet orange clothes...

"Naruto? What are you doing here?"

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading! I don't know when I'll release next chapter. I'll be busy celebrating my birthday and christmas.**


	32. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

* * *

 **Merry christmas!**

 **Review replies:**

 **Shadow of darkness in the dark: Nope.**

 **QuantomZero: I won't unify Mana and Chakra. Sorry!**

 **Ashzaroth: No spoil!**

 **whodidthewhatnow: ha, me too!**

 **Ddragon21: Stat bonuses? What do you mean? Like +50 INT?**

 **Leekz01: Yeah I like Tenten too. I don't know yet if she'll end up with Kurota though. I'll see as I I write the story.**

 **vampwalker709: He can't train his fire affinity, and he can't spend points in it. That's fixed.  
**

 **Inimicus: Hey I love your replies! You always give me new ideas.**

 **matrience: Merci! Comment j'arrive à ne pas rendre Kuro trop OP? Simple: je prend les skills de Han Jee Han, je les nerf à mort, et je les donne à Kurota! xD**

 **Thank you for your support! This chapter feels weird to me, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.**

* * *

"Damn..." Naruto groaned as he climbed out of the water before noticing me. "Kuro! What are you doing here?"

"Obviously, I'm taking a bath to wash my body. What are _you_ doing with here completely dressed in the water?" I asked, frowning.

"I'm teaching him how to walk atop the hot spring water." A voice raised to my left.

 **Pervert Coach of Elite Ninjas**

 **Lv69 Ebisu**

"Ah. Why in the hot springs though?" I questioned.

"To push him to try his hardest." He answered, putting his glasses up on his nose. "Now, Naruto, get back to training."

"All right..." He agreed reluctantly and did a hand seal before trying again.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH UUUUUUUCCCHHHH!"

"You're not releasing enough chakra to match your body's weight." I advised as I sat down, a towel covering me. Might as well help him a little if I'm here.

"I already told him." Ebisu remarked, irritated.

"I know!" He groaned, and again he did a hand seal. I decided to help him a little and activated my [World's True Vision] to see his chakra flow.

"More." I said to him as I watched his feet. "There. Try now." I told him when he began to release the same amount I released when I walked on water.

He took carefully a step on the water, and his foot sank in before stopping just under his knee. There seemed to be something weird though… With the seal on his stomach… I really need to learn Fuinjutsu.

"Ah… Thanks Kuro!" Naruto grinned at us.

I smiled back at him, and Ebisu raised an eyebrow at me, irritated. As I continued to examine the blonde, I noted that his chakra flow seemed to be perturbed by something in his seal… I [Observe]d him, and indeed, I found a special status effect 'Five Elements Seal'. I sighed and returned my eyes to their normal green colour. I couldn't do anything against that, as it's a special status effect.

"I think… I'm beginning to get it!" He said as his foot was beginning to return to the surface. "Aaahhhh!" He screamed suddenly, pointing an accusing finger behind us.

 _Splash_

"HOOOOT!" He yelled while we turned to the direction he pointed.

There, an old man with long spiky white hair tied back into a pony tail was kneeling and peeping inside the women's bathing area.

"Ehehehehehe" he was giggling.

 **?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Jiraiya**

"Heh." Ebisu smirked. "I don't know who you are but… I will not forgive such shameless behaviour!" He yelled as he ran to the man.

Jiraiya? Wait, _the_ Jiraiya?

"Huh?" Jiraiya remarked the man with sunglasses coming to him. "Geez!"

He did a hand seal, and as he turned to him, a giant frog appeared under him.

"Th… This is!" Ebisu recognised the technique before the frog knocked him out with his tongue.

"Man, keep it quiet… Whacha gonna do if I get caught?!" Jiraiya smirked to the poor unconscious Jônin.

I walked to Ebisu and knelt beside him to verify his state.

"… He's unconscious." I informed Naruto who had jumped out of water.

"What's that huge frog?! Who the hell are you?!" Naruto shouted pointing again his finger at him.

"That's..." I began, but I was interrupted.

"All right, hold on! Thanks for asking! Mont Myobokugama's holy master sennin, also known as toad sennin, remember it!" He presented himself as he took a weird pose.

"But what did you do!" Naruto shouted. "He was supposed to train meee!"

"He got in the way of my work." The man explained.

"Your work?" I raised an eyebrow. "What kind of work..."

"I'm a writer, I'm writing a novel." He cut me again. "This!" He showed us his book.

Icha-Icha Paradise.

"AAHH! That is!" Naruto and I reacted together.

"Oh! You two know about this? It's getting famous..."

"I know about it..." I began.

"This nasty book!" the blonde shouted. I was starting to be annoyed by the interruptions.

"Uh..." Jiraiya gritted his teeth.

"And what the hell do you mean by 'work'!" Naruto yelled.

"All you were doing was peeping into the women's bath..." I sighed, shaking my head. "Come on, an old man like you..."

"He's a pervert!" the blonde accused.

"You fool!" The sannin roared. "I am not just a pervert! Peeping gives me inspiration to write a better..."

"You liar! What a lame excuse!" Naruto interrupted him, giving him his middle finger. "Now what the hell are you going to do about my training?"

"Training?" Jiraiya repeated.

"Water walking. You knocked out the teacher." I summarised.

"You're a ninja too, right? Take responsibility and help me with my training!" Naruto demanded.

"I could use some help too…" I added.

"I hate disrespectful brats! And I don't like men!" He shouted to our face.

"Ugh… Umm… That Icha-Icha Paradise is so cool..."Naruto tried.

"Liar, this book is only for adults." The toad sage replied. "Compliments will get you nowhere with me!"

"… We could tell the women you were peeping on them." I tried.

"Geez, what annoying brats. I'd just get away and come back later."

I frowned. This man didn't give a single fuck about his reputation…

"Then..." Naruto performed his favourite technique again, and even I blushed when I saw him transforming into his girl version. "How about this?" he asked with a seducing voice.

"I LIKE YOU!" He yelled, pointing both his thumbs up to him, and Naruto and I sweat-dropped.

"What creativity! You're a genius!" he continued, and I felt like I was left behind. I want to be trained by one of the three legendary sannins too!

I closed my eyes, and remembered my father's words earlier today.

 _'A pretty girl! I wanna see you Henge like that Uzumaki kid!'_

Okay… No choice… I formed the hand seals and performed the 'Sexy Jutsu' too. I didn't modified a lot of things, I only adjusted curves and other details, added a chest, changed gender and made my hair longer.

"And me?" I joined Naruto, trying to imitate his erotic voice."Will you… train us?" We unleashed the forbidden technique, Puppy Eyes No Jutsu!

"Yes! But there's one condition… In my presence… you must always be like that..."

Naruto went back to normal. "I knew it! You're just a pervert!"

"No, that's not true! I'm not just a pervert!"

"Yeah right." I sighed.

"I am… A Super Pervert!" He grinned while moving his fingers perversely towards me, and I had to take a step back.

"Heh, just a joke." He smirked, and I went back to my usual form. "Huh, it's funny how little you change when you transform into a girl." He remarked to me, and I took another step back, just to be safe. "Well, kids, continue with what you were doing earlier again."

"All right!" Naruto shouted, and ran back to the hot water. I followed him, even if I already knew the water walking.

Naruto did his hand seal and began to release his chakra as Jiraiya and I watched him.

"Hopefully you can help him. There's a problem with his seal." I muttered to him, and he threw a glance at me before returning to his observation.

"Huh…?" Jiraiya muttered as Naruto took a few steps on the water.

"AWWWWW!" He screamed as he fell, and he went back to the ground. "Damn it!"

The sannin glanced at me again, and opened his mouth to speak, but I interrupted him.

"Don't worry, I know about the seal and the Kyubi. There's no need to hide anything." I muttered.

He raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. He simply turned to Naruto.

"Hey. Pull out your chakra again." He ordered, and Naruto nodded.

"Mmmmh..." He groaned as he did his hand seal, and soon a black mark in spiral form began to appear on his belly, surrounded by seals.

Jiraiya stayed quiet as he observed the seal. I decided to try [Observe]ing it too, literally.

 **[Dead Demon Consuming seal]**

 **A powerful S-rank seal developed by the Uzumaki clan to call upon the power of the Shinigami. The user's soul becomes separated from his body and is used as a payment.**

 **This seal restrains half of Kyubi's chakra in the body of Naruto Uzumaki, it was used by Minato Namikaze.**

 **[Five Elements seal]**

 **A powerful A-rank seal that is used to block or disturb the target's chakra flow. Very few are able to perform it.**

 **This seal disturbs the mixing of Naruto Uzumaki and the Kyubi's chakra, it was used by Orochimaru.**

Very interesting indeed… So it was Orochimaru who had put a seal on Naruto. That snake bastard… And the seal of the 4th is also impressive. I didn't know the Shinigami really existed.

"Kid, come over here." Jiraiya finally demanded while hiding his hand behind his back, and Naruto walked to him.

"Five Elements Unseal!" He hit him on the black marks with his five fingers, and the poor blonde fell on the ground.

"What the hell…" I groaned.

"Don't worry, I hit pressure point that relaxes you."He told Naruto, and I snorted, but remained quiet. "Just try to walk on the water again, okay?"

Naruto tried again, confused, and to my surprise he actually walked perfectly on the water. I used [Observe] on him again, and indeed, he no longer had the 'Five Elements Seal' special status effect.

"Wow! It worked!" Naruto rejoiced.

"Impressive." I praised the sannin. "I want to learn Fuinjutsu too. Could you teach me?"

"I don't teach to random brats. Naruto needs to be taught how to use the Kyubi's chakra, but you don't need my training." He refused, and I frowned. I decided to transform again into a girl, not giving up.

"Come on! I'll become a girl each time you teach me if that's what you want!" I begged, unleashing the Puppy Eyes No Jutsu.

Jiraiya's face became perverted again and he examined me, hesitating, as Naruto was running on the water to test his limits.

"...All right." He finally agreed, and I grinned. "But at one condition. How much do you know about Fuinjutsu?"

"Nothing." I answered simply.

"All right, then you'll need to prove me you have some talent. Learn the basics from this book in a week, and I'll consider you worthy of my teachings." He smirked as he gave me a book.

 **You've obtained the skill book: [Fuuinjutsu: Transference seals]**

 **Would you like to learn this?**

I smiled. "Thank you, Jiraiya-sama. I won't disappoint you." I said gratefully to him, and he continued to smirk. The title of the book didn't sound very easy, but whatever. I'll eat it anyway, I could learn the basics in just a few seconds.

"You might want to finish washing your body. I'll talk to Naruto, I'm sure it won't interest you."

"Sure." I agreed, and went back on the other side to get back into the water.

"All right." I heard after a few minutes. "It's getting late, meet me here tomorrow."

"Whaaaat…?" Naruto pouted, disappointed.

"And you kid!" He called me, so I got out of the water. "Find me when you're ready. If you don't learn the basics within a week, I won't teach you."

"Yes, sir." I agreed, and he jumped away.

"What a strange old man." Naruto muttered.

"You don't say." I chuckled.

"Umm, Kuro..."

"Yeah?"I started to put on my clothes.

"...You can turn back to a boy now." He said, looking away.

I froze. How the hell did I forget that…

"Ah, yeah..." I mumbled and blushed as I dispelled the Henge. Why the hell was I blushing… It's a Henge...

I finally finished dressing completely and we got out of the baths.

"So, what will he teach you?" I demanded to him.

"A secret kick-ass technique! I won't tell you, we're rivals from now on!" He shouted.

"Rivals?" I repeated, raising my eyebrows.

"Yeah! We're opponents at this tournament. I'll definitely surpass you! Believe it!"

I smiled, and remained quiet. Of course, after my fight with Lee, he probably looks up to me now. I just became one of his goals to surpass, next to Sasuke and Neji.

"Then, let's meet in the finals." I declared simply. "Show them who's the boss."

Naruto widened his eyes, and grinned.

"Yeah! I'll kick your ass too! Believe it!" He yelled, and ran away.

I smiled, and continued my own way to home.

As I was walking, I created an Instant Dimension and took out the book Jiraiya gave me.

 **Would you like to learn** **[Fuuinjutsu:** **Transference seals]?**

I grinned and pressed 'Yes', but...

 **You cannot learn this.**

 **Required skill: [Fuinjutsu Mastery] level 6**

What…? I have to learn Fuinjutsu before learning this? But… Jiraiya told me…

"Damn you, Jiraiya!" I yelled, angry.

The old man had tricked me. He didn't told me this book taught the basics, he just said _'learn the basics from this book'._ I had assumed it was a beginner book, but it's not… God, he really doesn't want a student.

Well, I'll show him.

I'll fucking learn this in _one night_!

Let's see… With [Potent Chakra], and my mastery of [Kage Bunchin No Jutsu], I'm be able to make 2 clones…

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" I shouted, still angry.

2 perfect copies of myself appeared, and we exited the Instant Dimension after I gave them money. I (the original) went back home to take dinner with my parents while one of my clones went searching for a book of Fuinjutsu. The other had to buy ink and scrolls for practice. I hope the shops are still opened at this hour…

"You're just on time!" My mother happily greeted me. "Ah, you're much better like this." She passed again her hand through my hair. "Did something happened?" She asked when she noticed my expression.

"I was tricked by an old man. But that's not important, I'll show him eventually."

"If you say so..." She rolled her eyes. "I made your favourite food! Come on, dinner is ready!" She pushed me in the kitchen.

"Yakisoba..." I smiled. That's my mother: I wasn't here for 5 days, so she did her best to cook an enjoyable meal to make me feel at home.

"About time." My father smirked. "We were going to begin without you."

I sat at the table and began to eat with my family.

"So, who was that old man you talked about?" Mom questioned.

"Jiraiya."

Dad failed to swallow and began to cough.

"Y-you mean _the_ Jiraiya?" He asked, astonished. "He's back in the village?"

"Apparently, yeah. He tricked me."

"That's great..." He muttered, and I raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, it's great he's back. Not that he tricked you." he corrected himself.

I looked at mom, who seemed interested. She probably doesn't know the Sannin is the author of the 'abomination' she destroyed before.

"What did he do?" my mother demanded.

"He said he was going to teach me Fuinjutsu," I explained and Dad raised his eyebrows. "if I managed to learn the basics from a book in a week."

"Indeed, that's nearly impossible. Learn Fuinjutsu in a week? Only the 4th could have done that." My father sighed. "Of course he wouldn't take a student. Most likely he said that to get rid of you."

"Not only that," I continued. "The book he gave me actually talks about seals a little more advanced, destined to those who already mastered the basics of Fuinjutsu."

"So mean." Mom muttered as she shook her head.

"Don't worry though." I smiled. "I'll learn it anyway, and I'll show him. That way he'll be forced to acknowledge me as his student."

There was a small silence. It was mom who broke it:

"That's right! You can do it, Kuro-chan!" She encouraged me.

"Good luck with that." My father laughed. "Learning the basics of Fuinjutsu in a week is already nearly impossible, but if you want to learn even more complicated stuff..."

"You'll see. Just you wait." I smirked as I get up and washed my plate.

 **[Dish Washing]'s level has risen by one!**

"But it's true you really improved a lot the past few months… And it's good for you to learn Fuinjutsu..." My dad mused.

"Anyway." Mom smiled. "You really became an expert at washing dishes! Look at that speed…"

"Yeah." I nodded as I took their plates too. "It became natural for me now." Just after a few seconds, the dishes were already clean. "Well, I'll go study now, I have a lot of work."

"Don't stay awake too long!" I heard my mother advise as I went upstairs.

There, I rested for about ten more minutes on my bed before one of my clone appeared out of nowhere inside my room. He had just exited his own Instant Dimension.

"You have it?" I asked them, and he nodded.

"I even found two more." He grinned and gave me the books.

"And Tenten made us a price for the ink and scrolls." The other clone came through the window, and we raised our eyebrows at his sight. His clothes were completely torn apart and he was covered in blood.

I didn't ask him what happened, cause I'll get his memories anyway. He would have already told me or dispelled if it was urgent.

It seems he didn't know where he should put all his things, so I had an idea: I opened my inventory.

The clone immediately saw it, and understood. He put all his things inside, as if it was _his_ inventory. It's funny how it works.

"Good idea." He praised.

"Thanks. Good job guys." I grinned back at them, and they dispelled.

The memories hit me.

 _ **-FLASHBACK (Clone's POV)-**_

" _Is someone in there?" I called. I was at Tenten's shop, and I was hoping it would be open, but…_

" _Yeah? … Kurota? What are you doing here this late..." She frowned after opening the door. "You know our shop is supposed to be closed, right?"_

" _Okay… I'll come back tomorrow, I guess..." I mumbled, and began to leave._

" _Hey wait!" She put a hand on my shoulder, and I turned my head to her. "Might as well let you in, since I opened the door." She grinned._

" _Thank you! I'll make it up to you."_

" _Now, what do you want?" She smiled to me._

" _Ink and scrolls! In quantity!" I answered, taking out the money the original gave me._

" _You're learning Fuinjutsu?" She guessed, and frowned as she went into storage room. "Couldn't it wait tomorrow?"_

" _Nope." I scratched my head, following her._

" _Why not?" She asked._

" _I'm going to use it all this night." I smirked._

 _She raised her eyebrows. "Then you're not going to sleep much… Here. I gave you a bit more since you're buying so much!" She gave me a bag filled with ink bottles, and another bag filled with scrolls. "I know a few things about Fuinjutsu, come find me if you don't understand something!" She proposed. "Not at this hour of course." She added, giggling._

" _Sure." I accepted while giving her the money, and I started heading back to the entrance. I'll probably surpass her tonight, but I might sound arrogant if I told her that. "You're really nice. Thanks for the help." I nodded to her._

" _You're a nice customer too." She chuckled. "Good luck with your studies!"_

 _I left, and started walking back home. I had spent all the money the original gave me to buy ink and scrolls, and I think we'll have enough for the night._

 _After a moment, I sensed a chakra considerably weakening a little away from me, to my left. I decided to go see what's going on._

" _This chakra… It's..." I muttered as I concentrated. I had sensed it all the afternoon after all. "Hayate."_

 _'Why would his chakra lower like that?' I thought, before his chakra... completely disappeared._

" _Shit! What the fuck is going on..." I groaned as I accelerated._

 _After a few seconds, I arrived and found Hayate lying on a roof, with a deep wound all over his chest. There was a lot of blood coming out... Most likely he was injured by a sword._

 _Without losing time, I tried to open my inventory to get a soul stone, but I was a clone. I couldn't use the inventory._

" _Shit shit shit shit..."_

 _I healed him without soul stones, while bandaging his worst wounds with my clothes that I tore apart. Please let it be enough…_

" _Observe."_

 _His HP were now 351 out of 1536, but it was still rapidly decreasing._

 _I decided to carry him to the hospital, leaving my bags behind, and I healed him regularly on the way, as I pushed on the bandages. I rushed, and I even used my [Chakra Enhancement] to raise my speed._

 _Just before I arrived, I ran out of mana._

" _HELP! This man is dying!" I shouted when I entered, and the few people that were there widened their eyes. Thankfully, one of them reacted very fast and ran to us._

 _He started healing him, and nurses began to call for help too._

 _I stood back as more doctors arrived, watching their work. I [Observe]d him and checked his status effects, and once I was sure he would be okay, I left quietly and returned to pick up my bags, before going back home. It was useless to stay here any more, and I have a lot of work to do this night._

 _ **-END FLASHBACK-**_

 **[Mind Healing: Being's Restoration]'s level has risen by one!**

 **[Sense Chakra]'s level has risen by one!**

Wow. Looks like I'll need to pass to the hospital tomorrow… Just to make sure Hayate's fine…

I turned my attention back to the books.

 **You obtained the skill book [Fuuinjutsu: the basics].**

 **Would you like to learn it?**

 **You obtained the skill book [Medical Ninjutsu: Mystical Palm No Jutsu].**

 **Would you like to learn it?**

 **You obtained the skill scroll [Shunshin No Jutsu].**

 **Would you like to learn it?**

I licked my lips.

* * *

 **A/N: All right... Thank you for reading! Don't hesitate to point out eventual faults. I feel like there might be more mistakes than usual, as its a long chapter.**


	33. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

* * *

 **Review replies:**

 **envy34: That seems to be good ideas. Not for his current level of Fuinjutsu though.**

 **Quantom zero: Yeah, of course! But that consumes chakra more than he regenerates, so he doesn't keep it on all the time like with Mana Armour.**

 **Em Cay: I'm not an expert of suffixes or Japanese names, I hope you forgive me. I'll keep it like it is.**

 **sashka2503: It might become even more OP.**

 **Guest: Hitting 50 in affinities doesn't do anything. It's a special stat, and you can't modify it by normal means.**

 **Shieldage: Actually, Shunshin is a D-rank jutsu not really requiring anything in particular. It's like a better Kawarimi I guess.**

 **John Doe: I won't do perks. He receives anough free skills like that imo.**

 **Thank you for your support, I hope you enjoy this.  
**

* * *

 **You learned the skill: [Fuinjutsu Mastery].**

 **[Fuinjutsu Mastery(Passive/Active) LV1 EXP:0,00%]**

 **The unofficial fourth shinobi art, to seal objects, living beings, chakra, along with a wide variety of other things within another object. It can also be used to restrict movement or unseal objects either from within something or someone.**

 **You create more efficient seals as skill level increases.**

 **You create seals faster as skill level increases.**

 **Allows the user to create more complicated seals as skill level increases.**

 **.**

 **You cannot learn the skill [** **Medical Ninjutsu: Mystical Palm No Jutsu]** **.**

 **CKRC required: 70**

 **.**

 **You learned the skill: [Shunshin No Jutsu].**

 **[Shunshin No Jutsu(Active) LV1 EXP: 0,00% / CP: 50 per meter]**

 **By using chakra to temporarily vitalise the body and move at extreme speeds, a ninja can travel short to long distances at an almost untraceable speed. To an observer, it appears as if the user has teleported. The amount of chakra required depends on the overall distance and elevation between the user and the intended destination.**

 **Allows the user to travel distances at very high speed depending on the amount of CP used.**

 **Base casting time: 3 seconds**

Aahhh… The feeling of new skills. Eating books is the best. Well, I can't learn the mystical palm, but I'll just need to raise my CKRC, and it's not that important anyway. I already have a healing skill.

I opened my status window, and put my 10 points into WIS. I'm gonna need it if I want to learn Fuinjutsu faster.

"Let's not waste time." I muttered, and I made 2 clones again.

"All right! Let's do this." I said to my clones and I took out of my inventory the scrolls and ink, to divide them in 3 piles. We sat and began to practice.

First, we practised the simplest seal, the explosive tag. Then we did a few storage seals, and back to explosive tags, and we repeated that for a long time. Those were the 2 easiest seals.

After 6 hours of hard work, I finally hit level 4 in the [Fuinjutsu Mastery]. I never had a skill this slow to train… Although it could be considered incredible, but I had 70 INT and 83 WIS after all.

"Okay. You guys disappear to share our experience. We're nearly out of ink and scrolls anyway." I ordered them and they nodded.

 _Poof!_

 **[Fuinjutsu Mastery]'s level has increased by two!**

"Finally." I let out a sigh of relief, and took Jiraiya's book.

 **Would you like to learn [Fuinjutsu: Transference seals]?**

"Fuck yeah." I grinned.

 **[Fuinjutsu Mastery]'s level has increased by two!**

Cool… Learning this book gave me a little experience for my skill. That's good to know… If I could do the same with Taijutsu, or Kenjutsu that would be interesting.

For now, I'll just practice a little bit more with transference seals, and then sleep an hour or two.

Transference seals are very convenient. It allows the user to move objects from a seal to another. The 2 seals have to be near each other at my current level, but the distance will increase as I learn more.

"Let's sleep now." I sighed as I went to bed after putting the scrolls and tags in my inventory. I won't sleep much, as the sun is already beginning to rise, but hopefully I can get my HP, CP and MP fully restored.

* * *

 **You have slept in your bed. HP, CP & Mp fully restored and all status effects removed.**

I stretched my body as I got out of bed. I would have preferred to sleep more, but there's so much to do today… And it's not like I can't handle this much. With the [Gamer's Body], I'm not even sure I need to sleep, or eat, to be honest.

I ate my breakfast alone, as apparently my parents woke up before me. It was 9:00 am and our shop is already open at this hour.

Once I finished, I descended to salute mom, and I walked out of the house.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." I muttered, doing a hand seal, and 2 shadow clones appeared.

 **[Kage Bunshin No Jutsu]'s level has risen by one!**

I didn't paid the rectangle any attention and began to give orders.

"You, go farm zombies. We need more XP and soul stones. You, find Jiraiya and go to the hospital to check on Hayate too. I'll focus on pure physical training, since you clones can't train that."

They nodded and one of them pointed his hand to the sky and disappeared in an Instant Dimension, while the other walked away.

"Hmm… Is it possible for me to enter the same Instant Dimension as my clones?" I wondered.

I frowned as I tried to perceive the Dimension. I used [World's True Vision], but I didn't see anything…

After I searched for a few minutes, my clone reappeared.

"You're the original? I need the books in the inventory. Wanna test something."

"Sure." I nodded to him and opened my inventory. He took the Mystical Palm book and the Contract Elemental book...

"What do you want to do?" I asked, curious.

"Heheh, don't you trust yourself?" He grinned, and disappeared again.

In the end, I shrugged, and started to jog to raise my VIT. I'll find out anyway.

* * *

 _ **Clone's POV  
**_

* * *

Of course, the sannin was again at the hot springs, peeping on women. Naruto was behind him, summoning tadpoles.

"What are you doing?" I asked curiously as I approached him.

"Gaah! You spy! Don't look!" He shouted and pointed an accusing finger at me, and I rolled my eyes.

"You know, I have a technique to accelerate the training you're doing." I told him.

"Really? What is it!" He asked, eyes hopeful.

"Just make a lot of shadow clones." I advised. As he didn't seem to understand, I explained: "When your clones disappear, their memories come back to you. So, the training time they did also come back to you."

"Awesome!" He grinned, but then he realised something and pouted. "But Ero-sennin made me use all my chakra already, I can't make even a clone…"

"Huh? Why is that?" I frowned.

"To teach him how to use his other chakra." Jiraiya's voice raised to my right. Most likely the 'other chakra' was the Kyubi's chakra… Is it really safe to teach him that? I turned my head to him.

"What are you doing here?" He continued, smirking. "You should be reading the book I gave you."

I smirked too, and I answered as Naruto went back to his training: "Yeah, I studied a lot this night and I'm done with it."

"Hah, very funny brat." He chuckled. "Now stop wasting my time and go away."

"You said you would teach me if I learned the basics from the book you gave me." I declared. "And now, here I am. I can make transference seals. So you should take me as your student. Or perhaps were you lying?" I taunted.

"No way." He laughed. "All right, then prove it. Demonstrate right now." He challenged me when he noticed I wasn't kidding.

"Of course."

I started to draw a seal on the ground, and did the same a few meters away. Under the disbelieving gaze of Jiraiya, I made a kunai disappear on the first seal and reappear above the other one.

"See!" I grinned.

"No way..." He repeated, and examined the seal I drew on the ground. "It's still a beginner's work, but… the drawings are perfect..."

He frowned and turned to me. "You're lying."

"What!" I protested. "I already showed you I'm capable of using transference seals! You want another demonstration?"

"No, I'm sure your seals works perfectly." He assured. "I mean, you probably have already been studying Fuinjutsu for a while. And you lied when you said you knew nothing of Fuinjutsu."

I gritted my teeth, frowning.

"Then, ask my parents. My team. Ask Tenten, who sold me the ink and scrolls yesterday. Ask Iruka-sensei who taught me at the academy four months ago. I didn't lie. You can even ask the Hokage if you want." I stated.

He glared at me. "I don't want everyone to know I'm back at the village. But I'll ask them." He nodded reluctantly. "Naruto! Keep training, I'm going to verify some things!"

"Whaaat?" He pouted.

"Keep an eye on him." The sannin ordered me and shunshined away.

I smiled, and began to watch Naruto summon... tadpoles, while I trained a few chakra control skills.

* * *

 _ **End of Clone's POV**_

* * *

I was training my physical stats. I had no results yet, of course, since at this point I needed about 2 days of pure physical training to increase my stats by one.

I went to my team's meeting point.

"You're late!" Kiba greeted me.

"Yeah, sorry." I apologised. "Last night was very tiring."

"G-good morning, Kurota-kun." Hinata-chan saluted me, followed by Kurenai-sensei, and I nodded to them.

"Now listen everyone." sensei started. "As you all know, Kurota-kun made it to the tournament, so he has to train hard in order to defeat his opponents. I'm going to devote more time to his personal training, so..."

"Um, actually..." I interrupted her. I didn't like the idea of my team-mates getting neglected. "Let's just do our usual Genjutsu lessons, sensei, and keep our normal team habits. I already planned my training, and my father will teach me elemental training so… There's no need to..."

"Are you sure?" She raised her eyebrows at me, and I nodded. "Well, if you change your mind, just tell me. We all want you to have the best chances possible to become a Chunin."

"Okay." I agreed.

"What exactly will you be training during this month?" She demanded.

Well there's a lot of things I need to train. Kage Bunshin, ID create, Mind Healing, my dojutsu, elemental training, Fuinjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, eventually Kenjutsu, a little Ninjutsu, celestial gates, senses, chakra control, chakra enhancement, eventually medical Ninjutsu too…

"I'll learn Fuinjutsu, elemental training, and... maybe Kenjutsu." I told her.

"That's a lot of things to learn in a month. Are you sure you can handle it?" She asked, worried.

I smirked.

"Hey Kurenai." A familiar voice raised a little away from us. I grinned when I saw Jiraiya walking to us. Seems like my clone did his work.

"J-Jiraiya-sama! What are you doing here?" Kurenai bowed her head, astonished.

"Hey old man." I greeted too, and he glared at me as sensei punched my head.

"K-Kurota-kun!" Hinata-chan frowned, disapproving.

"You know him?" Kiba questioned me.

I was going to answer, but the sannin spoke first. "I asked you to look after Naruto." He glared at me.

"Shadow clone." I explained simply, and he understood.

"You're his sensei?" He asked Kurenai, who nodded. "Does he know Fuinjutsu?" He continued, pointing me.

"No, but he'll be learning it soon." She answered, making Jiraiya frown. "Why? What's wrong?"

"It seems he's already learned it." He groaned, and Kurenai widened her eyes at me.

"Since when are you studying Fuinjutsu?" She questioned me.

"Since yesterday." I shrugged as my team looked at me, disbelieving. I was enjoying myself making it look like nothing. "As I said… A pretty tiring night."

The toad sage groaned something inaudible as he walked away, and shunshined.

"What. The fuck." Kiba sighed.

"What was that, Kurota?" sensei demanded.

"I asked him to teach me Fuinjutsu, and he agreed if I learned the basics in a week." I summarised the situation to them.

"And you learned it last night? Just like that?" Kurenai narrowed her eyes, sceptic.

"Yes."

Silence.

"You're not believing me." I guessed.

"Dude, it takes months, maybe a year, to understand the basics." Kiba declared to me. "And you want us to believe you learned it in _one night_?"

"Shadow clones helped me a lot." I sighed. " And my awesomeness too. But let's not talk about that. You don't have to believe me. I need to train right now, so I'm gonna get back to running."

"All right..." Kiba accepted along with Kurenai, who suddenly looked tired of me. I was going to leave, but something grabbed the back of my T-shirt.

I turned my head. "Hinata-chan?"

"H-Here... Kutota-kun!" She gave me an envelop, and looked at the ground, blushing.

"Huh? No way..." I muttered to myself, and opened the envelop to find a letter inside it.

"What does it say?" Kurenai asked, a strange light in her eyes.

I read the whole thing, and let out a sigh of relief.

"Just an invitation…"

"Ah, you have one too?" Kiba grinned. "I got mine a month ago."

"Really? I didn't get one." Kurenai pouted.

Basically, I'm being invited to Hinata's sister's birthday celebration, which take place in a week, by the Hyuga clan's head. I suppose that's what the Hokage meant when he warned me about the clans.

If I'm being invited all of a sudden, I, a mere genin of civil birth, just after the chunin's second task, they are probably interested in me. And if it is really the case… I sighed, preferring not to think about what they might want.

"Thank you, I'll definitely go." I smiled to Hinata-chan who nodded shyly to me.

"Th… Thank you, Kurota-kun." She returned my smile.

"Sensei, I'll come as usual to our genjutsu lessons the evening." I said as I walked away. "See you later."

I went back to my jogging, and after a few minutes, two windows appeared.

 **You learned the skill [Mystical Palm No Jutsu].**

 **You learned the skill [Contract Elemental].**

"...How?" I asked myself, as I received new memories.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Small chapter today compared to the recent ones. I'll celebrate new year this evening and tomorrow, so next chapter should be Saturday. As always, don't hesitate to point out eventual mistakes in grammar. I'll correct them tomorrow, if I 'm alright.  
**

 **Edit: Chapter delayed, sorry. And I can't see the reviews for some reason. If someone know how to fiw that problem please send a private message to me!**


	34. Chapter 32

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

* * *

 **Sorry for the delay. I'm back to school now.**

 **The glitch with the reviews was corrected, apparently, so I can reply to your reviews!  
**

 **Review replies:**

 **QuantumZero: Nope. As I understand it, Yin = Willpower and imagination. On the other hand, MP = Power of the mind = Knowledge and comprehension. At the very least that's what I want it to be.**

 **serialkeller: Heheh, Kurota wanted to show Jiraiya who's boss ^^. Besides, he doesn't hide the fact that he's a genious anymore. Just his gamer ability.  
**

 **Ergoan: I don't know if that's a good or bad thing... but thank you !  
**

 **vampwalker709: Naruto is a friend before being a rival. He was the one to 'teach' Kurota the Kage Bunshin Jutsu in the first place, so it's only fair.  
**

 **Inimicus: Well, I consider the normal size of my chapters to be more than 2000 words. The previous ones were kinda exceptional.**

 **Ddragon21: Yeah, Sharingan OP!**

 **MatthewBadger: He's just boasting about it. He wants to start being recognised as a genious now.**

 **Narutochi: I guess it's possible... It's hard to tell though.  
**

 **Phone Guy: Yes, celestial gates = eight gates.**

 **Draig: Yeah, recently I actually reconsidered rewriting the first chapters of Strange Gameplay For A Ninja. I mean, people are coming, they see bad writing, and they leave. :(  
**

 **picnic990: Sorry for the delay.**

 **Guest: Congrats, you _guessed_ how he did it! _*budum tss*_  
**

 **AndreyKl: I disagree with you there. It would be the case if his [Observe] skill level was higher at this time, but it wasn't.**

 **TGWP actually ended! For those who want a good gamer story, I really recommended it. The Games We Play, by Ryuugi. Although maybe you won't like the RWBY universe. Apparently there will be a sequel, called The Lies We Tell.  
**

 **Thanks for your support! I hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

My clone cheated.

I can't think of another way to put it. I cheated.

My clone went to the instant dimension and started slaughtering zombies normally. As he fought, he noticed his MP max was higher than it should, because of the title [Zombie Slayer].

+10 to all stats when fighting zombies!

So he decided to come back, take the books, and learn them while the stat boost was active. I'm so proud of myself…

I think I understood how the stat requirements work. Basically, if the bonus stat is flat, like +3 STR for example, it counted in the stat requirement. However, if the bonus is percentage, like + 5% STR, it won't work… Interesting.

I smiled at the 2 windows in front of me.

 **[Mystical Palm No Jutsu (Active) LV1 EXP 0,00% / CP:?]**

 **A** **llows the user to speed up the body's natural healing process by sending** **chakra** **from** **his** **hands into a wound or afflicted body part.** **It can be used to treat both external and internal injuries.**

 **Greatly i** **ncrease regeneration on the body part targeted,** **depending on the amount of chakra spent** **.**

 **Warning: It is** **vital to match the amount of chakra used to the severity of the affliction or injury.**

 **Effectiveness, precision and versatility increases with CKRC.**

 **[Contract Elemental(Active) LVMAX]**

 **Long time ago, man realized nature's power and have not skimped out on trying to wield its powers. Eventually they were able to communicate with elementals and could create contracts.**

 **Allow the user to form contracts with elemental spirits.**

 **Contracting more elementals need the skill level of your elemental skills to be 10 times the amount of elemental you contracted.**

"I guess I'll do it now." I closed the rectangles, and started walking to think about my new knowledge.

Contract elemental requires a sort of ancient circle, apparently. I'll also need to find a place where there is a lot of the element in question. For example, if I want a water elemental, it would probably be the best to do it immersed in water. To _feel_ it better.

Now, the question is, what elemental should I contract first? Obviously, I'm gonna make a contract with all five elements. But I'll need to reach level 10 in my first elemental skill before contracting a second, and then I'll need to be at 20 with the first two to contract a third…

"Fire… or air? Maybe earth..." I mused, as I looked at the clouds in the sky.

Maybe fire would allow me to control my future Katon Jutsu better. But on an other hand, there's air everywhere, it'll always be useful. Same for earth. And fire will be a pain in the ass to contract, if I need a place with a lot of fire...

In the end, I decided to contract an air elemental. I'll go for earth after that.

So, I need a place where there's a lot of air, where I can feel wind. I guess on the top of the Hokage Rock would be fine.

I started to head to the mountain overlooking Konoha.

* * *

 _ **Clone's POV**_

"He takes his time." I groaned while Naruto was sleeping.

I had stopped training my chakra control. If I went any further, I'm sure I'd disappear because of my lack of chakra.

"Brat." I heard the sannin's voice.

"You're back." I noted, and stood up. "Did you confirm I'm telling the truth?"

"… It seems you weren't lying." He considered me, impressed. "I never saw so much talent."

"I used shadow clones to accelerate my learning rate." I informed him, just to be sure.

"I see. That's clever of you to use the Kage Bunshins like that, I have to admit."

Now he seemed genuinely bothered with me. He really doesn't want a student...

"Look… I don't need everyday lessons on Fuinjutsu." I declared. "Just seeing you once a week is enough for me."

"All right. But I'll just teach you Fuinjutsu." He finally accepted. "Not now though. I'll come to you when I won't be busy with Naruto, okay?"

"Sure..." I frowned. Will he really come? Well, I'll find him again if he doesn't anyway.

"So you're training Naruto too?" I asked, glancing at the sleeping blonde.

"For now, yeah. There's things he needs to learn."

I remained silent. Learn how to use the Kyubi's chakra? Can he really handle it?

"You should leave now." He advised. "I'll continue where I left him."

"I guess so..." I muttered, and walked away. I still have a place to visit… I sighed as I made my way to the hospital. Finally, I convinced him. That was tough…

* * *

After a bit of walking, I arrived to the hospital, and entered. I was going to ask a nurse the way to go, but a voice raised behind me.

"Kurota-kun! You're here too!"

I turned, and smiled when I saw Tenten, accompanied by Neji and Gai.

"Hey. Good morning." I greeted them.

Neji nodded to me and Gai grinned.

"Kurota-kun! I don't know what you said to Lee, but his youth seems burning even more brightly since your match! You are truly a youthful student of Kurenai!"

"Come with us to see Lee! I'm sure it would please him!" Tenten proposed before I could reply.

Well, Hayate could wait a little bit.

"Sure. Why not." I agreed, and followed them to Lee's room.

"So, did you study well last night?" Tenten asked me as we were walking.

"Yeah, thanks for yesterday, by the way." I answered. "I learned a lot."

"What are you studying?" Neji questioned, examining me with his eyes.

"Fuinjutsu." We entered Lee's room. When he saw me, he grinned.

"Kurota-san! Our last match was truly amazing!"

"You're still in hospital? I didn't think your injuries were that bad..." I wondered.

"I'll be released in a few days!" He grinned. "Let's fight again sometime!"

"Yeah! I needed a sparring partner anyway..."

"LEE!" Gai shouted suddenly, and everyone jumped.

"Your teammates need sparring partners too! You would leave them to train with their future potential opponent?" The Jonin lectured.

"No! I'm sorry sensei! That wasn't youthful of me!" Lee yelled too.

"Don't apologise to me, Lee. Apologise to your teammates!" He grinned, pointing his thumb up to his student.

"I'M SORRY, NEJI! TENTEN!"

We took a step back from them. Tenten seemed tired all of a sudden, and Neji looked away.

"Quiet!" A nurse entered and hissed. "It's a hospital here."

She frowned looking at Gai and Lee, shooking her head. Then she turned to glance at us, and when she saw me, she widened her eyes.

"You! From yesterday..." She gasped, and walked to me.

"Huh?" I raised my eyebrows as she grasped my wrist.

"There is someone who wants to see you." She said as she took me out of the room.

"Um, sorry, see you later!" I managed to say before the nurse closed the door behind us. After a little moment, we entered an other room.

Hayate was there, apparently sleeping on the bed. Next to him, holding his hand, was a young woman with straight, purple hair reaching down to her waist, warm brown eyes, and a shade of red lipstick. She looked pretty sad… His girlfriend perhaps? I noted the ANBU mask on the table next to her.

"He's the boy who carried Hayate to the hospital." The nurse presented me, and when the woman nodded to her, she left the room.

The woman got up, and approached me.

"...Is he okay?" I asked finally, [Observe]ing Hayate. Crap! He's in 'deep coma'… A special status effect. I really need to level up my [Mind Healing] to become able to cure those. I see a lot of special status effects.

I took a step back as the woman knelt so she could be at the same height as me. What? Are they blaming me for his unconscious state? Or maybe she wants to thank me?

"Thank you." She finally said, confirming my thoughts, and she hugged me.

I blushed a little. First woman to hug me besides mom!

"You saved his life." She continued after letting me go. "How did it happen?" She demanded.

"I sensed his chakra weakening as I was going back home. I came to see what was going on, but before I arrived to him, his chakra completely disappeared. I didn't pay attention to other chakras, so I don't know who attacked him… I carried him back to the hospital." I explained.

"The doctors said it's a miracle he survived." She told me, looking back at Hayate. "What's your name?"

"Kurota."

"Kurota-kun… I'm Yugao. I'm very grateful you saved Hayate. I don't know how to repay you. Just ask for something, and I'll do my best to give it to you."

I nodded. I'll definitely enjoy the opportunity. Let's see… What do I want? The answer is pretty obvious.

I want to learn.

As I examined her weapon, I smiled:

"Please teach me Kenjutsu." I requested.

She considered me for a moment, and eventually smiled back at me:

"Of course. I'll teach you all I know."

Well, that was easier than Jiraiya. If everyone could be like that…

"Then, follow me. I'll teach you your first lesson." Her face went back to a serious expression.

"Huh? Right now? I don't have a sword with me… And I don't want to bother you, if you wants to stay by his side..."

"I'll lend you one of my own." She walked to the door, and turned to me. "Now, are you coming?"

"I'm a clone, you know." I informed her. "And I'm nearly out of chakra. It's probably better if..."

Suddenly, I felt something inside me collapse. The original became unconscious somehow. What's happening? I just had time to widen my eyes, and...

 _Poof!_

 _ **End of Clone's POV**_

* * *

 _ **Back to Kurota's POV, a few moments ago**_

All right, everything is ready. I'm at the top of the Hokage Monument, and I drew the circle on the ground. There's a little waft.

Unfortunately, I can't contract an air elemental in an Instant Dimension. There's no wind in my Dimensions. But it's all right, no one is in the area, I checked with my chakra sense. For a Fire elemental, however, I should just need to burn everything in my Diemension before contracting. The true problem was lightning.

I knelt and put my hand on the circle.

"I, Kurota Farasuke, call upon the ancient contract of past ages to summon thee." I said with a solemn voice. "I hope that you heed my call. Come, Air Elemental!"

For a moment, nothing happened, and I felt dumb. But after a few seconds, the circle emitted a bright light. I hope no one notice… I'll hide it with a little genjustu to be sure.

Air seemed to come from everywhere, converging into a single point. The mass was starting to get a form, and eventually the light faded, letting a child appear above the circle.

She had white hair longer than her height, even whiter eyes than the Hyugas. She looked like an 8 year old child, but she was as small as my forearm. She was smiling to me.

So this is an elemental?

 _'Been... so long… Why… call me?'_

Telepathy? Awesome. She was looking at me, with… hopeful eyes?

"I'll begin in accordance with the ancient rituals. My real name is Kurota Farasuke. You have heard my true name, please tell me yours."

She stopped smiling to look at my eyes intensely, and a rush of feelings invaded me. New memories. New life.

I am the air. I feel like air. I travel the world, flying at great speed. I am the wind. I see my body, from the outside, kneeling in front of the circle. It seems its…

"Uuuhhh…" I let out a groan of pain. I brutally went back to my body, and felt being ripped apart. So much pain. [Gamer's Body], where are you? Or perhaps it was [Gamer's Mind] I needed?

Slowly, the pain left the hand I put on the ground, and then the arm, to finally relieve my whole body, replaced by a feeling of joy. I had never felt so happy.

I opened my eyes.

 _'You… Kurota... Farasuke?_ ' I heard the elemental in my head.

"Yes."

 _'Name... Aeris. I...like you. You… called me? '_

"Yes..." I smiled to the small girl who was now standing on the hand I had put on the ground. She observed me, and smiled softly.

 _'We are one, as the ancient contract decrees.'_

"Our souls are one."

 _'I am Aeris.'_

"I am Kurota."

 _'Until the soul meets its end…'_

"We will be one forever."

 _Poooof!_

Aeris suddenly became taller, to a normal height. She was still small, she had a child's appearance after all.

 _'Call me a lot, okay? Often! It's not fun to sleep!'_ She grinned happily. I noted she was 'talking' more easily now that the contract was finished.

"Of course, I will!" I smiled back, and she nodded to me before disappearing.

"Damn..." I groaned, putting a hand on my head. A wave of mental fatigue hit me, and I fought to maintain my eyes opened.

"Gotta… get back to..."

 _Ping!_

A new blue box appeared, but I didn't have time to read it.

I fell on the ground, asleep.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading! As always, please point out eventual faults. I'm starting to think a beta reader could be good, too. I came back to studies, so the update rate will slow down. I'll try to do a chapter at least once a week, if not more.  
**


	35. Chapter 33

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

* * *

 **Hey, it's been a long time. Sorry for the late chapter. Real life issues.**

 **Review Replies:**

 **gamelove41592: Yeah, he learns a lot of stuff in the recent chapters. I hope it's not boring!**

 **Ashzaroth: Yes she consumes MP per minute. For the partnership, well think about it like that: Kurota gives her MP so she can be awake. In return, she gives him part of her powers. Their mind also became linked.**

 **sendicard: I'll tell everyone what I told you in private messages: Yes, that's exactly what happened in TGWP, _and_ in The Gamer.**

 **WinkinsLite: Idem.**

 **MatthewBadger: Yeah, sadly it's not really the case anymore.**

 **Phone Guy: The part with Hinata? I just felt like I was writing Hinata there. You know, with the suspension points and all.**

 **Ligare: Actually, Lightning would be better. That's the element that counters Earth, and that's why the Shidori of Sasuke was able to pierce Gaara's sand sphere.**

 **Guest: Nothing happens at 50 Fire Affinity, sorry.  
**

 **Gg: I'll post Kurota's stats and skills before the tournament, I think.**

 **Joshua The Evil Guy: Same as Phone Guy, read above.**

 **lobao: Of course he wants him as a full sensei, but starting as a part student will make things easier for Jiraiya to accept him.**

 **Scibot: That's right, Kurota just wants to become stronger to become a badass shinobi right now. He doesn't have any real motivations or dreams besides that. All he does is training, of course. Seeing your stats growing is really kinda addictive, even in videogames.**

 **Thanks for your support! I hope you enjoy this! I made it longer to compensate for my absence.  
**

* * *

"Hey..."

"..."

"Hey… Wake up."

Something poked my right side, and I opened my eyes, frowning. God, I feel weird...

"… Sasuke?" I recognised. "What are you doing here..."

"What are _you_ doing here." He countered as I stood up.

"Just taking a small nap." I joked, wincing. My body felt kinda weird… What is this… "God I'm wet..."

He shrugged, frowning. "It was raining… Whatever." He groaned and walked away.

I stretched rapidly, and went after him.

"You were training?" I guessed, as I arrived to his side. I could see bandages on his right arm.

"Hn." he glared at me. Uchiha language…

"Um… What time is it?" I asked.

He glanced at me, and answered: "Nearly 18:00."

"Ah..."

That's a long nap. Will it happen again when I'll contract other elementals?

"You're returning home?" I questioned.

"Hn."

I sighed, and decided to shut up, since he's not willing to talk. As I looked at him, I noticed he seemed… darker than usual, like he's angry about something… Getting this curse mark certainly didn't help his social skills.

Yet again another status effect I can't cure… For now. I should really train my Mind Healing.

"Sasuke-kuuun!"

It's Sasuke's turn to sigh at the sight of his teammate running to him. When she arrived, she bowed to me.

"Good evening, Kurota-san."

Huh? When did I gain her respect? Still, I nodded back to her, and she turned to Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun, I was wondering if you could help me pick some clothes..."

"No."

Unfortunately for the little pinky girl, we arrived in front of Sasuke's house, so he left us.

"I'll be training, Sakura. Don't disturb me." He nodded to me, and closed the door.

"Aaahhh…" The fan-girl sighed.

"… You need clothes?" I asked her. "You can come to my family's shop if you want."

"Your family runs a shop?"

"Yeah."

She considered me, and shrugged. "Why not… I have nothing to do anyway."

I showed her the way, and we started to walk to the shop. I decided to help her a little with her crush on the way. If somehow they get together, then Hinata-chan will have more chances with Naruto. And I ship Hinata Naruto.

"Look, Sakura… I don't know much about these things, but you're doing it wrong with Sasuke." I declared carefully.

"… You think so?"

Again… Before, she would have punched me. Now, she was actually listening to what I was saying… Maybe the fight with Lee changed her opinion of me?

"Sasuke isn't interested in love right now. So, to make him notice you, you have to… become useful to him?" I wasn't really sure what I was saying there. I'm not an expert in these things after all. As I saw that she was staying silent, I continued: "Start training... I can tell you didn't make much progress since the academy, besides your chakra control. He only looks at the strong."

"… But… I'll never be as stronger as him..."

"… I don't think you need to. For example, learn medical ninjutsu. That way, you'll be able to support him… I guess. Plus, you have very good chakra control." In the eighties, actually.

She looked at me still unsure, but understanding. "That might... actually work..."

"I don't know, but at least it's better than fan-girling over him." I said harshly. "I think they teach medical ninjutsu at the Hospital."

I could have teach her myself, of course, but I'm not so kind. I really don't have the time.

"I'll do that." She decided, clenching her fists, motivated.

"Good." I nodded and opened the door of my house. "It's here. Come in."

"Kuro-chaaan!" A voice welcomed me. "You brought a girl with you!" Mom noticed and smiled to us.

"Don't call me that…" I dropped my head as we entered the shop.

"I-I'm Sakura Haruno." Sakura blushed, eyeing the clothes around already. "Aren't you normally closed?"

"We don't really have any schedule, as long as someone is there." I reassured her. "I'll leave her to you." I said to my mother and prepared to go upstairs to change my wet clothes.

"What! No, you brought a girl here, you have to guide her in our shop!"

"Ah… It's not necessary madam… I don't want to bother him..."

"You're not bothering him at all! Right, Kuro-chan?" Mom gave me a meaningful gaze.

"… Riiight." I groaned. "I'll still change clothes, since I'm all wet. Wait here."

I heard my Mom beginning to question Sakura as I mounted the stairs. Now that I think about it, this is the first time ever I brought someone to our shop… Of course she would be curious.

Once in my room, I changed clothes and simply sent a clone to them. Aaaah, Kage Bunshin, so convenient. Now I finally have time to verify the results of my contract.

'Skills.' I called mentally.

 **[Basic Air Elemental (Active/Passive) LV1 EXP: 0,00% / MP: 500 per minute]**

 **The most basic air elemental. Allows the user to summon an elemental to manipulate air (costs additional MP).**

 **Two forms available: spirit and corporal.**

 **Spirit form: the elemental stay by the user's side and is not visible except for the user. The caster borrows the elemental spirit's power to control its elements.**

 **Corporal form: the user materialize the elemental, and give it its own autonomy. Requires a summoning scroll. Cost 1000 CP when summoning. CP must be transformed in wind nature.**

 **The elemental's attributes will change as the caster's INT, skill level and Air Affinity grows.**

 **Precision, power and versatility increase as the caster's INT, skill level and Air Affinity grows.**

 **Obtaining this skill increase Air Affinity by 30.**

Holy shit! +30 Air Affinity?!

'Status.'

 **Name:** **Kurota Farazuke**  
 **Title** **:** **Zombie Slayer**  
 **Level: LV** **2** **6** **(** **42.3** **%)**  
 **HP:** **14** **54** **/** **14** **54**

 **CP:** **2721** **/** **2875**  
 **MP:** **3675** **/** **3675**

 **STR:** **4** **5 +** **4** **8.82** **5** **7.82**

 **VIT:** **4** **4 +** **4 +** **7** **.46=** **5** **5.46**

 **DEX:** **4** **1 +** **4 +** **6** **.** **92=** **51.92**

 **CKR:** **50**

 **CKRC:** **5** **1+** **1** **4** **.** **26=** **64.26** **  
INT:** **7** **0** **  
WIS:** **83** **  
POINTS:** **0**

 **Fire Affinity: 48**

 **Air Affinity: 32**

'That's broken.' I thought as I gaped at the window. I focused on my own chakra, and realised it changed again… so that was the weird feeling I had since I woke up. So I could potentially become proficient with all 5 chakra transformations. And I already had 2 points in air affinity before? Let's test the skill.

'Aeris.' I called mentally.

She appeared with a small light in spirit form.

 _'You called!'_ She grinned to me. I assumed I could respond by telepathy, too, so I answered:

'Yeah.' I examined her. She was still in a child form, looking curiously around her. I noticed that I was getting experience just by keeping the skill active…

'Is it okay if I keep you with me all the time?'

 _'Yeah! That's great!'_ She smiled to me.

'Awesome.' I smirked. 'Won't you miss home or something though? Where are you when you're not with me?'

 _'Sleeping.'_ She answered, floating above my bed.

'You sleep?' I raised an eyebrow.

 _'We all do.'_ She confirmed with a solemn face.

I paused, and questioned, curious: 'Then won't you get tired staying here after some time?'

 _'As long as you're here, I won't tire. It's fun being awake!'_ She grinned as she flew around me.

So she returns to sleep if I stop feeding her my MP. But then…

'How long have you been sleeping before we contracted?'

 _'A very long time!'_

'Did someone summoned you before me?' I questioned, frowning.

 _'I don't remember.'_

I scratched my hair as I approached the window. Does this mean this is her first time? We don't know anything about elementals… I remember Hioshi-san mentioning his understanding of water, maybe he has a water elemental? I certainly feel the changes in air around me when Aeris is here... I'll need to find him to answer my questions.

Well let's test this new skill now. I looked at a leaf on the ground of the street and imagined a small wind. The air moved and made it fly away.

"Cool." I grinned with Aeris, who was proud of her.

I moved my hand and tried to touch her hair, but it passed through her like she wasn't here.

"I'll need to learn how to make a summoning scroll." I mused, and descended. I sneaked in the kitchen so that the girls don't notice me, and find Dad reading a newspaper.

"You're back already?" He asked me, surprised, before he glanced in the shop to my clone and the girls and understood. "Hm… Shadow clone… Very clever." I smirked to him, and he shook his head, smiling. "Where were you this afternoon?"

"Sleeping."

"So you _did_ study all night..." He sighed, while Aeris was examining him. Seems like he really couldn't see her. "Jiraiya-sama came here. It appears you succeeded! I'm proud of you son! I didn't think you'd be able to learn so fast!"

"Told you." I smiled and reminded him: "So, when are you teaching me elemental training? You promised!"

"Yeah, yeah. Let's do that in the backyard… I'll come in a minute." He told me.

We have a small backyard behind the house, with a small kitchen garden on the right.

"All right." He gave me a small paper after joining me outside. "Put some chakra in the paper."

I concentrated, and infused a little amount of chakra in it. The paper cut in two distinct pieces and burned.

"Ohooo..." My father appreciated. "Of course you would have fire, but wind? Maybe your mother..."

 _Ding!_

 **You have learned your elemental Affinities. All affinities are now visible in the status window and Observe window.**

I opened immediately my status window to look at the changes.

 **Fire Affinity: 48**

 **Air Affinity: 32**

 **Water Affinity: 2**

 **Earth Affinity: 6**

 **Lightning Affinity: 0**

"If the paper burns, you have a Fire affinity. If it's cut, you have wind." Dad was explaining. "If it wets: it's water, if it crumbles: earth, and if it wrinkles: lightning. Hey, are you listening?"

"Yes, yes." I nodded to him, and closed my window with a thought.

"Now, what do you want to train? Fire or wind?"

"Can't I just train both?"

He considered me. "… If you want. I won't argue, since you did learn Fuinjustu in one night."

He smirked, and took a leaf from the ground. "Try to burn it with your chakra. That's the first step."

His leaf took fire and was reduced to ashes. "For Futon, you'll need to cut it."

"All right." I agreed and picked up a leaf to try the same thing. Obviously, I failed.

"Call me when you're done." Dad shuffled my head and went back to the house. That's it? That's simpler than I thought.

I made another clone, and I deactivated my elemental skill, since I no longer had Mana to sustain it. After a good moment, the clone that I sent to Sakura and mom dispelled and I made another clone again to train. We each re-summoned our own Aeris, and they began to play together… Weird. It's not like they were shadow clones… Or maybe it is?

Of course, my regeneration didn't allow me to keep up the mana consumption, so I just disabled it sometimes when I ran out of MP.

I trained for an hour before eating with my family, and then I continued for a few other hours until I no longer had chakra. In the end, I got 7 levels for Aeris and 5 levels for my [Chakra Nature Transformation: Katon] skill. I also got a point in CKR and CKRC and obtained the new Futon skill:

 **[Chakra Nature Transformation: Futon (Passive) LV3 EXP: 28,93%]**

 **One of the basic elemental chakra transformation, performed by sharpening chakra.**

 **With more mastery, control over your wind chakra increases.**

 **Experience of this skill increase faster with higher CKRC and Air Affinity.**

 **Allows the user to transform his chakra in wind.**

 **1,5 % decrease cost in Futon jutsus.**

 **3% increase damages with Futon jutsus.**

The day after, I made two clones again, and sent one to hunt Zombies, and the other to chakra transformation training. I, the original, had to learn Kenjutsu with Yugao-sensei and train my physical stats. I had summoned Aeris, of course, while the other transforming his chakra was using [World's True Vision] to see the chakra flow and manipulate it better.

* * *

 _ **Clone's POV**_

 **[ID Create]'s level has risen by one!**

 **[ID Create (Active) LV5 EXP: 0% / CP: 1900]**

 **Used to create Instant Dimensions.**

 **Stronger Instant Dimensions may be created or entered at higher levels.**

 **Currently available ID list:**

 ** **1). Empty ID – Monsters: None****

 ** **2). Zombie ID – Monsters: Zombies****

 ** **3). Ghost ID** **–** **Monsters: Ghosts****

"Ghosts?" I read. "Might as well try it." I sat down and began meditating to replenish my mana to create another Dimension. I don't particularly train [ID Create], and it raises slowly because I don't go in Instant Dimensions often and when I do, I cast it only one time. But maybe I should, if it allows me to fight mobs of higher levels.

After a few minutes, I escaped my Zombie ID to create my first Ghost ID.

I looked around, on guard, and began to wander in the empty streets. I didn't take me long before I found a ghost.

 ** **Lv17 Ghost****

"17 only?" I pouted. Well, good enough. It'll greatly increase my leveling…

The ghost was a humanoid, but transparent, and with a somewhat monstrous face. It floated a few centimeters above the ground, and didn't have legs…

'Observe.'

 ** **Ghost Lv 17****

 ** **HP:** **1** **000 MP: 2500****

 ** **A spirit whose mind was eaten by time. It won't attack people unless he's attacked. Although a little slow, it can traverse obstacles easily and damage your body with spirit weapons.****

 **STR:** **30**  
 **VIT:** **1** **0**  
 **DEX:** **25**

 **CKR:** **0**

 ** **CKRC:**** ** **0**** ** **  
INT:**** ** **25**** ** **  
WIS:**** ** **3****

 ** **Immunity to all physical attacks.****

 ** **Weak to mana-based attacks.****

"Still slower than me." I muttered.

I threw a shuriken to it, but it passed through him harmlessly. Well, as expected. The ghost didn't react either, as if nothing happened.

I tried a Mana spear, and I one-shot him. So weak. Sadly, he dropped nothing.

"Out of MP again..." I groaned, glaring at my status window.

I approached another ghost, and performed my only Katon Jutsu, Hosenka No Jutsu. The fireballs hit him and did some damage, but it was still really weak.

 ** **[Katon: Hosenka No Jutsu]'s level has risen by one!****

As I thought, the skill leveled up just after one use, since it was level 0. I finished him with other fireballs before he arrived to me, spending about a thousand CP to kill it.

I jumped on a safe roof and hid myself to meditate. If I keep wasting chakra like that, I'll disappear, so I'll kill them with Mana attacks.

 ** ** _End of Clone's POV_****

* * *

 ** ** _Back to the original's POV_****

"I'm sorry for yesterday!" I bowed down.

"It's all right." Yugao-sensei shrugged. "I was just a little surprised."

I had gone back to the hospital to find my new sensei in Hayate's room.

"Hm? You seem… different somehow..."

"Ah?" I looked at her questioningly.

She approached, and examined me suspiciously, frowning.

"Um… What is it?" I asked awkwardly.

"… Your chakra… It's… For a moment I thought it had changed… just a little bit. It must be my imagination..."

"Dunno." I lied as I examined my hands innocently. "You're a chakra sensor?"

"Yes."

"Me too." I smiled. "I didn't sense anything wrong with my chakra though."

She shook her head. "Well, it's nothing. Come on, I was waiting for you." She put her hand on my shoulder, and we shunshined to a training ground. Aeris had been transported too, of course, since she's tied to me in her spirit form.

"I have a sword this time." I showed my weapon to her, and she examined it.

"The form is very unique…" She muttered as she passed her hands on the metal, caressing it. "I don't think it's very good to learn with this sword though… It was specially forged to fit a particular style. Use this one for now."

She threw me an other sword, not as long but much more manipulable.

"You should buy another sword, if you can afford it." She advised. "Now, I know Hayate would have explained you the theory and basics of Kenjutsu perfectly. But I believe it is best to learn through fighting in order to create your own style."

Just after she finished her sentence, she dashed to me and attacked rapidly to test my defenses. As Aeris was cheering and encouraging me, I managed to parry a lot of blows, and avoid the rest. After a bit of sparring, she became serious and disarmed me easily before hitting me violently with the back of her sword right in the stomach.

 ** **[Kenjutsu Mastery]'s level has risen by one!****

 ** **[Physical Resistance]'s level has risen by one!****

I knelt and coughed a little. This will be tough… But it's good XP for my skill.

* * *

 ** ** _Clone's POV_****

It's been a few hours since I began hunting ghosts, and I leveled up 8 times. I just continued to one-shot every spirit I found and went back to meditate when I was out of mana.

At some point, after I killed another ghost, what I was waiting for finally happened.

The boss appeared in a flash of light, and he wasn't as I thought he would be.

 ** **Lv** **38** **Spirit** **of castle Cairh****

I raised an eyebrow when I read his name, and used [Observe].

 ** **Spirit** **of castle Cairh Lv** **38****

 ** **[Special Boss Monster]****

 ** **Once a proud lord, John Cairh joined the world of spirits after his death. However, he managed to conserve a bit of his sanity.****

 ** **HP:** **4** **000 MP: 5500****

 ** **STR:** **75****

 ** **VIT:** **4** **0****

 ** **DEX:** **43****

 ** **CKR: 0****

 ** **CKRC: 0****

 ** **INT:** **5** **5****

 ** **WIS:** **20****

 ** **Immunity to all physical attacks.****

 ** **Special ability to possess people.****

 ** **Weak to mana-based attacks.****

"Where am I?! What is this place!" The ghost shouted angrily, looking around him.

I stared blankly, unsure of what to do. What the hell is this. Did my ability give a background to this ghost? Why is he talking? I waited for my mana to completely regenerate, and walked to him.

When he noticed me, he approached rapidly.

"You. You see me? Tell me where I am and I'll keep your sufferings brief!"

"You're inside my Instant Dimension." I answered, frowning. "You're the boss, and I have to kill you to escape, I think."

"WHAT?! A boss?! Such arrogance! This isn't a game!"

He raised his hand, and put it on my front. I didn't react, I wanted to test the limits of [Gamer's Mind] and I'm a clone anyway. Can he possess a clone though?

"Why… Why can't I possess you!" He groaned.

"Come at me with all you've got." I taunted as I was putting some distance between us. "I guarantee you, it's easier than trying to possess me."

" 'With all you've got', you said… Kukuku… HAHAHAHAHA!"

The ghost flew high in the sky, and grew dangerous claws while spinning to form a little whirlwind, reminding me of Kiba.

"Don't get cocky because you have some power! I only need two seconds to wipe you out, brat!"

He stopped spinning, and as he floated, he raised his hand, and something hit my Mana Shield that I had activated, nearly shattering it. I frowned as he landed in front of me. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"You… I see… You have a power similar to mine…" He began to raise his hand again.

"… I don't think so." I replied honestly. "[Mana Spear]."

A blue spear materialized in my hand, and I threw it with all my strength to the guy. He tried to dodge, but he ended up missing an arm, a few meters away on the ground.

"The fuck!?" He looked at his injury, widening his eyes. "… A pain in the ass…" His injured arm transformed into some sort of disgusting leech. "How sad… I have to go full power against a child like you… You're quite strong, but it's too soon for you to face me..."

"Pfft."

Hm, maybe I shouldn't have laughed right now.

"GO TO HELL!"

He charged me with good speed, but I threw a few other Mana spears to him. He tried to dodge, but he couldn't because of his momentum… What a fool. I guess he was always relying on his immunity to physical attacks before.

Two spear landed in his chest, reducing his HP to 21, and he rolled on the ground. It was really surprising how easy it was to dominate this boss, but then again without my mana skills he would have been a lot harder to beat. I slowly walked to him as he was struggling to make his 'body' fly again.

"You… You…!?" He yelled madly.

I kicked him in the head with my Mana Armored foot.

"You monster…" He muttered while I was crushing his head.

"Still not dead?" I frowned, [Observe]ing him. 2 HP left.

His body had reduced to only his head, with little arms where his ears should be. Pathetic. I also noticed I already received some XP…

 **Boss Monster beaten. Your level has risen by one!**

"Wait! Don't… kill me."

"..."

I hesitated, looking at him. Is this a product of my ability? He seems real. Not a mindless mob like the other ghosts and zombies from before. Or…

"Where were you before?" I questioned.

"Before... you brat brought me here? I was in my castle."

" _I_ brought you here?"

"You… It can only be you… And you don't even know your true power..." He realized, disgusted.

"..."

I thought Instant Dimensions spawned monsters. I was wrong. Apparently, it brings monsters from somewhere else… Then are the zombies 'real' too?

I thought about his status, [Special Boss Monster]. Perhaps he's the only one who's from somewhere else? And if I don't kill him, will he return to his world when I'll escape? Or will he simply disappear? Could I even leave the ID without killing him? Maybe he can teach me something else about Dimensions. Or about his previous world. Because if what he is saying is true, there might be a way to travel between universes…

I shook my head. If I was indeed the one who brought him here, I was the one at fault… I brought him here forcibly, without his consent.

"All right." I decided. "I won't kill you."

Killing intelligent beings just for XP, and maybe some drops? I'm not going to start doing that… I'd end up slaughtering everyone… I'll just leave him, and hopefully it'll send him back to his world.

"..." The ghost said nothing, accepting quietly.

I created ropes with my Mana, resulting in a new skill.

 ** **[Mana Rope (Active) LV1 EXP: 0,00% / MP: 10 per meter]****

 ** **A rope made from mana. It has physical durability and disappears after some time as mana scatters. Can become invisible like Mana Armour.****

 **Mana Rope can be manipulated according to the user's wish, and since it is made of mana it can even affect objects or creatures of indeterminable form. Can only be used by those who have a talent in manipulating mana.**

 **Durability and solidity increases as the user's INT and skill level grows.**

 ** **Current Duration: 10 minutes.****

I bound him, just to be sure, and I escaped the ID, reappearing in a small back-street of the village.

I looked at my feet, and confirmed the ghost was gone. Good. I looked around one last time, and went home to deposit the money the ghosts dropped before finally dispelling.

 _ **End of Clone's POV**_

* * *

 _ **Back to original Kurota's POV**_

The memories hit me, and I lost my concentration for a second. Yugao-sensei sanctioned me immediately by taking the opportunity. She deflected my sword easily and kicked me in the chest, sending me rolling on the ground.

"Few… I though you would never lose your focus!" She looked at me impressed. "I have to admit, you learn pretty fast. You don't tire easily either, and you don't make a lot of mistakes."

I stood up, and picked up my sword.

"At this rate, you'll have a good level for the tournament. Though you still lack experience with different fighting styles, you'll need to discover how to handle different enemies." She finished. "I guess we can call it a day."

"I guess so." I agreed, still surprised by my clone's adventures.

"So, how often do you want to meet?"

"Once every two days would be perfect." I answered.

"All right. Come here the day after tomorrow in the morning, then. I'll be waiting for you."

 _'Puff'_

She shunshined away, and I sat down for a bit. My [Kenjutsu Mastery] is now level 17, but I have yet to find a proper style. There are so much possibilities, I think I'll just adapt my fighting style to the enemy.

I gained a point in VIT and DEX as well, and Aeris became level 11. She now consumes only 392 MP per minute. I can contract another elemental now, but… It'll change my chakra again. Though maybe if I contract a fire elemental there won't be too much changes, since I already have a good affinity with it… And I'll be able to learn faster too. She wasn't really sure about the change either, and eventually dismissed it as her imagination… Maybe now is the time, before she gets used to my chakra. Yeah, I'll do it tonight.

I got up, and went home to get money before walking to Tenten's shop. I need a new sword!

"Hello!" I entered, and noticed Tenten cleaning some metallic weapons.

"Kurota! Hello." She greeted and got up. "You're really becoming a regular of this place!"

"There's quality and quantity here." I nodded. "Anyway, I need a sword."

"Kyaaaah!"

I raised an eyebrow at the stars that filled her eyes instantly, amused.

"You have come to the right place!"She put a hand on my shoulder. "Finally someone with good tastes! You're learning Kenjutsu now?"

"Y-Yeah." I let her lead me through the shop, pulling me by my wrist.

"What type do you want? Big? Small? Dual edged? Curved? Wait! Maybe you're dual welding? Two swords for one customer!"

"Woa easy there! I only want one. And I want it to absorb wind chakra easily too. I don't have any style yet, but I suppose a sword that's all right in all kind of situation would be good. Not too big. It'd be good if it's more resistant too."

"Hmmm..." She began to search around to find the right one. "Maybe this one?"

'Observe.' I inspected the object.

 ** **Short Wind Blade [Rank: Normal]****

 ** **A little sword that absorbs wind chakra and can be easily manipulated.** **48cm.****

 ** **Damage: 69 – 86****

"I prefer longer." I told her and she nodded.

"Hmm... This one?"

 ** **Wind Katana [Rank: Rare]****

 ** **A curved sword that fits the st** **y** **le of the samurais, and can also absorb wind chakra.** **7** **3** **cm.****

 ** **Damage: 76 – 90****

 ** **\+ 1 STR****

 ** **+1 DEX****

"Not curved," I requested, "And not too long either…"

"Sure... What about this one?"

 ** **Wind Ninjato [Rank: Rare]****

 ** **The swords used by ninjas,** **this one** **can a** **b** **sorb wind chakra even more easily. 62cm.****

 ** **Damage: 74 –** **93****

 ** **+2 DEX****

"Hm… Now that I think about it, a curved saber isn't bad either..." I scratched my hair, hesitating between the last two.

"You wear the Ninjato in your back, the Katana by your side." Tenten informed me as she was still searching. "So you'll be able to unsheathe the Ninjato faster and directly hit your enemy with only one movement. It'll be more difficult to do that with the Katana, but on the other hand it is longer so you'll have a little more range."

"I think I'll take the Ninjato." I decided. Range isn't an issue, I heard there were Futon Jutsus to increase the length of a weapon.

"Wait! There's more! Try this one!" Tenten requested enthusiastically and put another sword in my hand.

* * *

In the end, I spent an entire hour trying different swords with her, but no one seemed to fit me, so I just bought the Ninjato.

"Uuuhhh…" I groaned as I left the shop.

"Don't hesitate to come back if you change your mind!" the girl shouted to me from the entrance while I walked away and Aeris waved her hand at her.

"Few…" I sighed. This girl loves weapons as much as mom loves clothes… But now I have a decent weapon. If I learn more about Futon, I'll be able to infuse wind chakra in it too. That will be so badass!

I sheathed my new sword in the case that was now on my back. Now what to do? I still have all the afternoon to train my physical stats. I'll have to train [Chakra Body Enhancement] too. And if I want to raise my mana skills faster at the same time, I should augment my INT and WIS to have more MP. My INT is at 70, my WIS at 83, and I have 45 unaffected points… What should I raise first?

At this point, I don't even consider augmenting my other stats. INT and WIS are the harder to raise by training, compared to the others.

Thinking about it, INT increases my Mana Shield's defense, the damage of my Mana attacks along with my elemental's attributes and of course my MP max. Assuming I get a new skill when I hit 100 in a stat, I should raise my INT first. WIS is also useful, making me think faster and better. It also improve my MP regeneration and resistance to mana attacks, along with my Stealth skill and my Genjutsu Mastery. I guess I'll have to increase both if I want to truly benefit from these stats.

I could have spent my points directly after Yugao-sensei left me, but I wanted to buy a sword first, since I'm not really sure what will happen when I'll hit 100 in those stats.

I nodded to myself, finally decided, and proceeded to open my status window to put 30 points in INT.

My brains exploded.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! I don't know when I'll have time to write the next chapter. As this is a very long chapter, I might have made more mistakes than usual, so sorry for the eventual bad grammar. It also keeps getting harder to keep track of all his stats and skills correctly!  
**


	36. Chapter 34

****Disclaimer** **:** **I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.****

* * *

 ** **New chapter!  
****

 ** **Review replies:****

 ** **Ashzaroth:**** ** **Aeris, not Aegis!  
****

 ** **way of life: Of course not. I actually planned the story until the time skip and a little after. Yes, I changed my mind, there will be a time skip. And a weird one.  
****

 ** **Roxas902: Yeah, I created a spreadsheet when I read your comment and everything is much simpler now! Thanks****

 ** **MysticSpider: LMAO!****

 ** **Anon: Time manipulation with Instant Dimensions that are slowed compared to the real world you mean? That won't be until a much higher level of [ID Create].****

 ** **Thank you everyone for your support! I hope you enjoy this.****

* * *

I knelt on the ground, and took my head between my hands, closing my eyes to better endure the sudden pain.

 ** **Since your INT passed 100, you gained a random ability related to your brain functions.****

 ** **A n** **ew skill, [Psychokinesis],** **was** **created.****

 ** **Since your INT passed 100, you gained the skill [Medium Mana Capacity].****

 ** **Since your INT passed 100, you gained the skill [Mana Regen** **e** **ration].****

I barely noticed the windows appearing around me before I screamed. God this is horrible, it's like someone is mixing and moving my brains to create new connections… like, to improve the instalations. Thankfully I had been clever enough to go to an empty area before I spent my points.

After a moment, the pain lessened and I rested on the ground, panting.

"Fuck!" I groaned and closed my eyes.

 _'Kurota! Are you alright?'_ Aeris demanded, floating above my face with a worried expression.

"Yeah… Give me a second..." I muttered, panting.

Because I was kinda meditating, my sensing range augmented and I slowly began to sense a presence in the trees a little away, observing me.

I waited a moment before standing up and looking directly at the tree that was 40 meters away, narrowing my eyes, but the chakra signature suddenly vanished.

"..."

I massaged my temples, wondering if the pain made me hallucinating. The [Gamer's Mind] should be preventing those kind of things, shouldn't it? So someone was really observing me screaming like that without reacting?

I looked around me, suddenly suspicious there might be others. Someone spied on me. Should I inform the Hokage? But maybe _he_ is the one who sent spies. I'll be more careful from now on…

For the moment, let's check my new skills. I gained 3 of them!

 ** **[Medium Mana Capacity (Passive) LVMAX EXP:** **None** **]****

 ** **An ability given to the few mana users that are born with an exceptional ability to handle mana.****

 ** **15% increase effect for all** **Mana-based** **skills.****

 ** **10%** **decrease** **mana** **cost** **for all abilities.****

 ** **[Mana Regeneration (Passive) LV1 EXP:** **None** **]****

 ** **An ability given only to those of special heritage that allows faster recovery of MP.****

 ** **100% increase** **for** **MP regeneration.****

 ** **This skill levels up every 5 points in INT.****

 ** **[Psychokinesis (Active) LV1 EXP: 0,00% /** **MP: ? ]****

 ** **Allows the user to move objects solely by focusing his mind to such an extent it has** **real impact on the world.****

 ** **1** **Newton of force** **for 1 second** **may be exerted every 1 MP consumed. Cost increases with distance.  
****

 ** **Range: 10m****

 ** **Ratio, versatility and precision increase as the user's INT and skill level grow.****

"Woa..."

This changed a lot of things. Now, I have 10500 MP and I regenerate 1830 per minute!

And my mana skills cost less too, which means my [World's True Vision] costs only 1935 per minute. So…

I opened my status window again, and put all the rest of my points into WIS. My MP regeneration increased to 2160! That means I can keep my Dojutsu active all the time if I want, and that's without considering the training I'll do to lower the cost!

On top of that, I received [Psychokinesis], which is already enhanced by 30% because of [Mana Affinity], and an additional 15% with [Medium Mana Capacity]. As if it wasn't strong enough already!

If I add [Meditation], which is level 17 …

 **[Meditate (Active) LV17 EXP: 51,36%]**

 **Men invented Meditation to engage in contemplation or reflection, or in mental exercise for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness. Later, it was used to achieve inner piece and self control, and to train their chakra sense.**

 **If the user move while meditating, it interrupt the skill.**

 **Increases HP regeneration by 185% when active.**

 **Increases CP regeneration by 185% when active.**

 **Increases MP regeneration by 185% when active.**

 ** **Increases Stamina regeneration by 1** **8** **5** **% when active.****

… I jump to 6156 MP per minute...

"Okayyyy!" I stood up happily, and made 3 clones. Every clone regens 720 MP per minute, meaning they could keep their own Aeris and Mana Armour on all the time!

"You, train Futon. You, Katon. I'll train Chakra Body Enhancement and physical stats!"

"Yeah!" We high-fived and went our own way to continue training.

Chakra Body Enhancement increases my STR, VIT and DEX by 1 for every level of the skill. The question is, does this bonuses count to reach 50 and gain other skills? Because if it does, I'm just one point away from hitting 50 in STR and VIT!

I trained just a few minutes, dumping all my chakra to enhance my body to run and jump around, before the skill increased.

 ** **[Chakra Body Enhancement]'s level has risen by one!****

This time, pain invaded my body and muscles instead of my brain.

 ** **Since your STR passed 50, you gained the skill** **[Ferocious Blows].****

 ** **Since your VIT passed 50, you gained the skill** **[** **Gifted Body** **].****

This physical pain is nothing compared to what I suffered earlier. I just sat down and endured it while gritting my teeth and clenching my fists as Aeris was observing me worryingly.

"Few." I sighed when it finished, and opened my skills window again.

 ** **[Ferocious Blows (Passive) LVMAX EXP: None]****

 ** **The user** **'s** **blows possess incredible strength, and** **are now sharp enough to** **have a chance to** **cause bleeding.****

 ** **30% increase to Physical Attack Damage.****

 ** **25% chance when hitting with** **ONLY** **your fists to provoke** **additional** **bleeding.****

 ** **15% increase** **to** **STR-related** **effects** **for** **all** **skills.****

 ** **[** **Gifted Body** **(Passive) LVMAX EXP: None]****

 ** **The user's body possesses tremendous vitality and resistance.****

 ** **30** **% increase in Stamina regeneration.****

 ** **5% increase in total Stamina amount.****

 ** **100% increase in Health regeneration.****

 ** **5% increase in total HP amount.****

 ** **5** **% decrease** **damage from** **physical** **attacks** **.****

 ** **15% increase** **to VIT-related** **effects** **for** **all** **skills.****

"Aaaah… Today is a great day." I smiled to the sky after reading the rectangles.

Both skills are useful. One makes my strikes stronger, the other makes me more resistant and tougher along with raising my endurance...

"Status."

 **S** **tatus window:**

 **Name:** **Kurota Farazuke**  
 **Title** **:** **Zombie Slayer**  
 **Level: LV** **35** **(** **17** **.** **56** **%)**  
 **HP:** **1** **588** **/** **1** **588**

 **CP:** **5** **86** **5/5** **865**  
 **MP:** **10500** **/** **10500**  
 **STR:** **4** **5 +** **5.75+** **10,5=** **61.25**  
 **VIT:** **4** **5+** **5.75+** **10,5=** **6** **1.25**  
 **DEX:** **4** **2+** **5+** **8.28=** **54.28**

 **CKR:** **5** **1**

 **CKRC:** **5** **1+** **1** **5** **.** **04=** **6** **6** **.** **04** **  
INT:** **10** **0** **  
WIS:** **98** **  
POINTS:** **0**

 **Fire Affinity: 48**

 **Air Affinity: 32**

 **Water Affinity: 2**

 **Earth Affinity: 6**

 ** **Lightning Affinity: 0****

 ** **(A/N:** **Here is the status window.** **I you wonder why it's 5,75 instead of 5, it's because** **of** **the 15% increase in STR effects and VIT effects to** **all** **skills, which increase** **s** **the bonus** **es** **of Chakra Body Enhancement and Academy Style Taijutsu. Thank you spreadsheet.)****

I got a 15% increase in the STR and VIT effects of my Taijutsu and Chakra enhancing. That bonus probably affects the Celestial Gates skill too. Good, hitting 100 in physical stats should be possible sooner than I thought…

I wanted to try my Psychokinesis, but there might be someone observing me, so I'll train it in my Instant Dimensions.

I'm done with pain for today. I'll raise DEX and WIS later, I have enough suffered for now… I'll just train Mind Healing. Wait, I need to hurt myself for that too. Dammit.

I guess I'll practice shunshin and other chakra skills for the rest of the day…

* * *

At the end of the afternoon, I sensed someone approaching me, so I stopped what I was doing and turned to him.

 ** **?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?****

 ** **LV ? Danz** **ô** **Shimura****

"Hello." I recognized him, he was the man conversing with the Hokage the day of the graduation exam of the academy. Half of his face was covered in bandages, and he looked like a weak old man.

"Kurota Farasuke." He greeted me.

"Yes?"

"I wish to discuss with you, do you mind walking with me for a bit?"

"Sure..." I agreed, a little suspicious. If only I could [Observe] him…

We began to walk slowly through the training ground.

"That was quite an impressive match against this young Genin." He began, and I crisped immediately.

"I have a proposal for you." He continued as I was staying silent. "I am Danzô Shimura. I want you yo serve me."

"Wat?"

"Serve me." He repeated.

"...Why would I do that?"

"I believe we can help each other." He stated with assurance. "This village… needs shinobi like you. You have numerous skills," I smiled at this line. "but your talent is wasted if you stay in your current team… I can offer you advanced training, multiple jutsus, and protection. You haven't noticed it yet, but you attracted attention since your last match. There are eyes on you."

"Yeah, I noticed." I nodded sarcastically. "Why would I need protection though?"

"Who knows."

A chill ran down my spine. Surely he isn't threatening me right now?

"There are things you did during this match, that just doesn't make sense. For now, people are just curious, but later they will fear what they don't understand."

"..." I have nothing to say to that. I saw it happen to Naruto.

"Join me, and you won't have to worry about these things. It can also be the occasion to share your tricks with us, if you agree of course. We need ninjas like you."

Yeah, in the end, he only wanted to know my secrets...

"Who are you again?" I asked finally. "I won't join someone I don't know."

"I am an elder of Konoha, a member of the high council." He raised an eyebrow.

"I see." I nodded. "Well, your offer seems good to me. I'll think about it. I need to do some research before engaging myself."

"Of course." He accepted humbly. "Then, I'll contact you later."

He walked away, and I watched him disappear behind a tree in direction of the village.

Well. That sure is a suspicious offer, there gotta be a catch. I'll ask the Hokage for more informations, and I'll go to Jiraiya next if he doesn't answer me.

* * *

"I want to speak to the Sandaime." I requested to the secretary when I arrived to the building; she nodded and lead me to his office.

"Kurota-kun." He welcomed me, smiling warmly. "Shouldn't you be training?"

"I was, Hokage-sama." I bowed. "But I was interrupted by someone I want to know more about. I came to you to ask questions about him."

"Who is it?"

"Danzô Shimura." I said, and his face became abruptly serious. "He made me an offer."

"… Hmmm..." He took out his pipe and started to smoke. "I can only advise you to not get involved with him… His goal is honorable, but you wouldn't like his methods."

"His methods?" I repeated, wanting to know more.

"He has a rather… dark view of the shinobi world, if I can say so." He declared. "He gained notoriety as _The Darkness of the Shinobi_ because of his suspected but not proven undermining of specific Konoha personnel, and other frequent unsanctioned actions."

"Okay, you convinced me..." I said a little surprised, remembering his frail appearance. He had just seemed like an old man at the moment.

"He won't abandon this easily." He warned me. "He'll continue to observe you, you should be discreet about your… heritage, if I can call it like that."

He was talking about me being the successor of the Mind's Power Cult. "Sure… Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"I am the one who thanks you." He retorted, returning to his old smile. "I heard you saved Hayate."

"Not really." I lowered my head as I thought about his state. Perhaps one day I'll be able to cure him.

"It's not your fault. You have done all you could, and it's a lot."

I shrugged, uneasy with the subject, and bowed again. "Thank you for answering me, Hokage-sama. I'll return to my training, now."

"Of course, of course. Don't hesitate to come again, if you ever need advice."

I left the building. In the end, I didn't learn much about Danzô, but at least now I know I won't join him.

I went back home to eat dinner, and received memories of my clones on the way, instantly gaining levelsin my Katon and Futon skills along with my elemental skill.

"Hey Kuro-chan! Guess who invited us to their daughter's birthday!" Mom greeted me as she agitated a paper in her hand when I entered.

"The Hyûgas." I groaned.

"Aw, you knew already?" She pouted and went back in the kitchen.

"Yeah, Hinata-chan is in my team you know." I reminded her, following.

"Oh, that's right! Still, it's amazing for us clan-less to be invited by a powerful clan of the village..."

"Bah! Just as arrogant as the Uchihas were in my opinion." Dad groaned.

"… And if he plays his cards right Kuro could end up with Hinata-chan!" She ignored him, putting her hands on her cheeks.

"Hahaha… No." I replied as I sat to the table. "She already has someone else."

"Hohooo, competition!" Mom muttered excited, and I facepalmed.

"Let her think what she wants." Dad sighed. "You didn't have any relationships with others for twelve years since a few months ago, of course she would love seeing you dating a girl."

"Not happening." I groaned, uneasy with the thought. And the waste of time. Hmm, maybe I could send a clone if I ever date someone?

My mother lowered her head, disappointed. She looked so sad at this moment, why does it matter so much?

"Well, maybe I'll consider it." I rectified. "But absolutely not with Hinata-chan."

I sighed in defeat as she seemed relieved now.

"So you failed to resist her ultimate technique too, huh? That makes two of us!" Dad grinned while Mom was busy preparing the plates, and I laughed with him.

"What about Sakura-chan? She seemed very polite." She tried again.

"No fan-girls either." I retorted. Why do we have to talk about this…

"You're very harsh with girls." She remarked. "Come on, what type of girl do you like? Hm?" She teased while shuffling my hair, and sat to the table.

I sighed loudly, and thought about the girls I knew as I started to eat. Hinata-chan is cute, smart and strong, and incredibly kind, perhaps she's the perfect one, but she's off-limits. Ino and Sakura are fan-girls, no way. Ami treats me like shit. And is an other fan-girl, too. Temari, I don't know her, so I don't know. Tenten would be the closest, I guess, even if she's kinda fan-girling over weapons. It's better than Sasuke at least.

"Well, maybe there's this girl who sold me my new weapon..."

"Oh yeah." Dad spoke before mom, eying the sword in my back. "You're going for Kenjutsu now?"

"Yeah!" I grinned, glad he changed the subject. "And I want to learn how to infuse wind chakra in it too!"

"You do realize this training normally takes years, right?" My father reminded me, raising his eyebrows but still smiling. "Ninjas spend their life mastering it..."

"Boys..." Mom sighed as she shook her head.

"So, you continued as usual today?" Dad asked while chewing.

"Yeah, but a weird man interrupted me. Danzô Shimura he said his name was." I said casually, continuing my meal.

My parents stopped eating, and looked suddenly at me.

"What did he want?" my father questioned, frowning.

"He wanted me to serve him." I told them while chewing.

"What did you say?"

" 'I'll think about it.' " I answered. As I saw Dad was opening his mouth again, I cut him and continued: "But I did some research on him, and he seems a bit fishy. So I'll refuse, of course."

"Good." They nodded and went back to eat, but they seemed still worried. I noticed they exchanged a weird glance.

"Well, I'm finished." I got up and washed the dishes, feeling they might want to talk without me for some reason. "I wont train this evening."

I returned to my room, thinking about my parents. There are things they don't tell me, I feel it; but who am I to blame them. I don't tell them everything either.

I sat on the ground. I decided I wouldn't sleep anymore, at least during this month. I don't need it with [Gamer's Mind] and [Gamer's Body]. I still feel the need to sleep, of course, but it doesn't actually affects my aptitudes.

Instead, I made two clones, and we started meditating while activating Aeris, [Mana Armour] and [World's True Vision] all together. With my new skills and meditation activated, I now regen 2052 MP per minute even with my mana divided by 3. It's not enough to sustain the three skills together, but when I'll run out of MP I'll dispell them, just make an other clone and keep training the same skills as before. With a clone, I regen 3078 MP per minute, so even with the skills activated I'll be able to regen my mana little by little. Plus, this way I'll train [Kage Bunshin No Jutsu] too.

However, when we began and activated our Dojutsu, we noticed something behind us.

"You didn't go to sleep, huh?"

We turned; some ugly transparent little thing was floating behind us.

 ** **Ghost of Castle Cairh****

 ** **Lv** **38** **John Cairh****

"Surprised to see me?" He chuckled. "Yesterday's enemy is today's friend, they say."

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! There was a lot of calculs in this one, I hope you don't mind. Next chapter probably sunday. If I'm not too lazy. Also, maybe I'll start to use a beta-reader. I'll see.  
**


	37. Chapter 35

****Disclaimer** **:** **I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.****

 ** **Review replies:****

 ** **QuantumZero: Wait for it.****

 ** **matrience: No he's in the real world.  
****

 ** **Remzal Von Enili: I know right?****

 ** **GreenOfBlack: In France we put commas instead of dots. My bad.****

 ** **Ashzaroth: No pairings before the timeskip. I think.****

 ** **xxOchibixx: He's into girls.****

 ** **Biosaur: Well, I can't satisfy everyone. And let me warn you: there's going to be more.****

 ** **theconniesour: It's going to be something along those lines, yeah.****

 ** **vkg313: I actually found a way to avoid the party system. Hint: it's in the original manwha 'The Gamer' too!****

 ** **dark sekiryuutei: Yeah sorry for the late chapter.****

 ** **Funnyman: He's busy with the tournament right now. And he can only make two clones you know?****

 ** **Anon: Considering his wis increases mana regen, I thin it's all right.****

 ** **As always, thanks for your support! I hope you enjoy this chapter.****

* * *

"Gaah! Noooo! Stop !"

"Give me one reason not to eradicate you."

"Aaah! What are you… Bwafh! Hold on a second! Hold on hold on!"

I stopped crushing the little ghost's 'body' with my hand, and released him.

"What the hell were you doing!"

"What are you doing here?" I questioned while our two Aeris were toying with him.

"Go play somewhere else, dammit!" He yelled at them. God he was annoying. His face became serious, and he continued:

"After losing to you yesterday, I have realized it. Behind an able man, there are always people helping him."

"… Who are you?" I smiled sarcastically.

"I am John CAIRH!" He yelled again, his eyes comically widening, and I took a step back. "The lord of castle Cairh! You know, the guy you fought yesterday!"

"You mean the pathetic monster I beat up." I corrected. "So something was left over." I raised my hand again, ready to pulverize him.

"Hold on! Just… hear me out. I don't want to spend the rest of my life as a ghost!"

"But you're already dead." I remarked.

"Never mind these pesky details!" He raised his arms. "King! Noble! Mage! or Ninja! You have dreams like that, so why can't I share it with you, standing by your side in the spotlight? You're the only one who can see me here!"

He paused, and pointed his finger to me.

"Everyone has dreams! Even as a ghost, I still have ambitions! I want to become powerful! The one that stands above all! That is… a GOD! That way everyone will worship me! I dream of achieving god-like power one day!"

"You're crazy." I declared, sitting on my bed and shaking my head.

"I've spent a lot of effort on this!" He smirked. "But you crushed it. You brought me in this world!"

"Umm. Actually, I don't really know how..."

"But it doesn't matter!" He yelled, completely ignoring me and continuing his speech. "I'll continue in this world! What I need, is a powerful mysterious power, like yours! That way, everyone will be following me!"

He paused, and pointed his thumb to his body.

"Team up with me! Let's become Gods together!"

"I see." I stood up, and caught him again. "Any last words?"

"Wait, wait, you can't exorcise me! You're not a killer! Please forgive me!" He started crying. "I don't want to die!"

"You attacked me yesterday."

"I'm not gonna do bad things any more!"

"Really?"

"Yes, really!"

I released him once again, and smiled, satisfied. I didn't want to kill him, I just scared him a little so he understood I could kill him whenever I wanted.

"You'll stay with me." I continued. "If you attack someone, or try to possess people, I'll kill you. Aeris, you monitor him."

"Phew..." He sighed, and smirked. He's totally up to something, but that's okay. I have my ways.

'Mana Rope.' I thought, pointing a finger at him, and blue ropes appeared around him, binding him to me. Then I connected it to my Mana Armour, and concentrated a little to make it invisible.

 **[Mana Rope (Active) LV1 EXP:** **60** **,00% / MP: 10 per meter]**

 **A rope made from mana. It has physical durability and disappears after some time as mana scatters. Can become invisible like Mana Armour.**

 **Mana Rope can be manipulated according to the user's wish, and since it is made of mana it can even affect objects or creatures of indeterminable form. Can only be used by those who have a talent in manipulating mana.**

 **Durability and solidity increases as the user's INT and skill level grows.**

 ** **Current Duration: 10 minutes.****

 ** **Invisibility: The user can make the rope invisible as long as it is tied to its body. Cost 100 MP per meter per minute.****

"Is it necessary?" John Cairh groaned as he glared at the rope.

"So." I began, ignoring his complaint. "How did you manage to escape the last time?"

"Hmph. I won't let a brat like you catch me so easily. You see, I can change the form of my body, become invisible and as a ghost, I can pass through things. When you left this empty space, I simply became invisible and disappeared in the ground."

"Hmm. Just to let you know: if you escape again, I'll kill you. I don't trust you."

He shrugged, and my clone went back to his meditation.

"I don't have these abilities any more, since you weakened me."

"Where did you come from?" I questioned, crossing my arms.

"I came from a world named Gwenivir. It's quite different from this one, from what I saw."

"How so?" I asked, curious.

"We have psychic powers, for example! The people of this world are savages, fighting with their bodies like that!"

"People use mana in your world?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm..."

I decided to not use the Ghost ID again. If it pulls innocent people into this world without their consent… It might be necessary to never use monster spawning Instant Dimensions again.

I talked to him a bit, and we described our respective worlds. Apparently, they were more advanced technology wise, and had people like healers, mages, or elementalists. They were also quite numerous, hundreds of millions from what he said... However, they didn't have chakra. That was probably why they discovered the use of mana.

If I keep him with me, he might give me knowledge of special trainings and methods from the other world. Just knowledge about advanced technologies is appealing, to invent new machines… But right now, I need to concentrate on the tournament.

* * *

The next morning I continued my training like usual, deciding to find a present for Hinata's sister later.

"Why the hell are you doing this?"

"I need to train my body, Johny."

"Useless! You have outstanding psychic powers, use them! You don't need to lower yourself to this!"

I ignored him and continued my sit-ups.

"Pathetic… Stupid…" he mumbled.

I also trained my [Chakra Body Enhancement] skill, and as a result I reached 50 in DEX.

 **Since your DEX passed 50, you gained the skill [Refined Flawless Movements].**

"Huh..." I widened my eyes, suddenly feeling every wasted movement my body was doing unconsciously, and their impact on my stamina. I also sensed changes in my left arm and leg.

 ** **[Refined Flawless** **Movements** **(Passive) LVMAX]****

 ** **An ability given to those with incredible mastery of their own bodies. Control, synchronised movements, coordination and stamina economy became natural to the user, showing grace in every actions.****

 ** **30% increase in movement speed.****

 ** **20% increase in attack speed.****

 ** **50% increase in precision and accuracy.****

 ** **15 % increase to DEX effects on all skills.****

 ** **The user is now ambidextrous.****

"Woa..." I raised my left arm, surprised to feel it so well. Maybe I was actually going to consider dual-welding!

"...Awesome."

"What?" John groaned.

"You being quiet."

I smiled, and returned to my training under his glare.

* * *

After going back home during dinner, Dad stared weirdly at me for some reason. Eventually, I asked him what was wrong.

"Hmm… Nothing." He sighed. "What did you do today?"

"Same as usual." I answered as I raised an eyebrow.

He didn't comment, continuing to stare at me while eating and frowning. What did I do wrong this time…

After dinner, I created an Instant Dimension in my room to contract a Fire Elemental. I drew the circle on the ground, and shot little fireballs around. I needed flames to feel the fire and summon the elemental.

This time, the elemental was a little boy with a body made of yellow fire, eyes glowing red and hair made of orange flames. He was little, like the first time I saw Aeris.

 _'You… called me... Why?'_

I repeated the same actions I had done with Aeris, and I was invaded with new burning feelings and memories like the last time.

 _'I am_ _Brun_ _.'_

"I am Kurota."

 _'I am Aeris!'_

We turned our heads to the other elemental, who was grinning at us. Brun returned her smile.

"And I am John Cairh!"

 _'Until the soul meets its end…'_ my Fire elemental completely ignored Johny, whose eye twitched.

"We will be one forever." I finished, and grinned at the fire boy.

 _Pooof!_

He suddenly became taller, reaching the same height as Aeris.

 _'Call me if you need to burn something._ ' He grinned at me, and disappeared.

Again, I felt mentally tired, and I saw a window popping and John smirking evilly at me before I fell asleep.

* * *

When I woke up, it was still night, and the ghost was waiting for me, looking annoyed.

"What?" I smirked. "You found out you couldn't possess me even when I'm sleeping?"

"Fucking brat." He groaned. "It's like you're always protected. How did you get knowledge of this ritual if no one has psychic powers in this world?"

"Haha. I didn't say no one had psychic powers here." I raised my hand and escaped the ID while the ghost narrowed his eyes at me and stayed quiet. The sun was going to rise soon, so I figured I could eat breakfast early. As I descended from my room, I checked my new skill.

 ** **[Basic Fire Elemental (Active/Passive) LV1 EXP: 0,00% / MP: 500 per minute]****

 **The most basic** **fire** **elemental. Allows the user to summon an elemental to manipulate** **fire** **(costs additional MP).**

 **Two forms available: spirit and corporal.**

 **Spirit form: the elemental stay by the user's side and is not visible except for the user. The caster borrows the elemental spirit's power to control its elements.**

 **Corporal form: the user materialize the elemental, and give it its own autonomy. Requires a summoning scroll. Cost 1000 CP when summoning. CP must be transformed in** **fire** **nature.**

 **The elemental's attributes will change as the caster's INT, skill level and** **Fire** **Affinity grows.**

 **Precision, power and versatility increase as the caster's INT, skill level and** **Fire** **Affinity grows.**

 **Obtaining this skill increase** **Fire** **Affinity by 30.**

"Summon Brun, summon Aeris."

The two elementals appeared, and grinned to me.

"Welcome to the family, Brun." I smiled, and he looked around, curious.

"What did you say?" Mom's voice raised behind me.

"Uh, nothing. Just talking to myself."

She shrugged, and examined me. "You know, you're going to need decent clothes if you're going to this party… It's the day after tomorrow, you know."

"I'll pick up something in the shop. It's not like I need to go shopping..."

"I guess so." She sighed.

I went to the kitchen and took some cereal, while Aeris led Brun to discover the house. As I ate, I noticed mom was staring at me weirdly.

"What is it?" I stopped myself.

"Ah… Um…" She hesitated. "I didn't noticed, but your..."

"You're early today!" Dad interrupted, putting his hand on her arm. Mom glanced at him for a second, and sat with me at the table.

What's up with them? Why are they so preoccupied over something… I frowned while eating my cereals, and suddenly understood.

It was my movements.

Unconsciously, I was moving differently compared to before I obtained the DEX skill. Every movements I was doing was now completely controlled, and didn't waste any time or stamina. The way I moved my body was just incredibly more efficient now, and they noticed that.

I looked again at my parents. Mom was still staring at me with worried eyes, and Dad was acting as usual, but I could tell he was preoccupied as well. At least they didn't assume I was an impostor… Which was also strange, by the way.

"So… Anything new with your training today?" My father asked on the tone of the conversation.

"Yes, actually." I answered carefully. "But that's going to be a surprise for the tournament. Ooops." I made a show of dropping my spoon 'by accident'.

Mom relaxed a little, but Dad just narrowed his eyes at me for a fraction of second, before rapidly going back to his usual face. He didn't buy it at all.

"Okay, I'll take my leave now..." I stood up awkwardly. "I'll come back for dinner."

"Don't forget about the present for the Hyuga heiress!" Mom reminded me as I escaped the house.

I grit my teeth as a made some clones.

Shit. Another impossible thing to explain, and I can't even hide it. All these improved movements are natural for me now, and I can't picture myself acting clumsy for ever to fool everyone... To top it all, I'm going to spar with Yugao-sensei right now. She'll surely notice something changed since two days ago…

 _'Is everything all right?'_ My elementals asked me, noticing my thoughts.

'Not really, but don't worry. We'll be okay.' I smiled to them as I was making my way to the training ground, and they nodded.

* * *

"… You keep surprising me." Yugao-sensei told me after a few hours of sparring.

"I practised." I lied, panting.

"Liar."

I stayed calm. It was just Johny messing with me, he even was smirking the bastard.

"I see." Yugao simply muttered to herself, observing me.

We stayed quiet for a moment.

"You are… indeed a genius." She declared. "I have never seen anyone like you. It is... a little scary, actually."

"Uh, thanks?" I scratched my head, not really sure if I should thank her.

"You see, that's what everybody will feel towards you eventually!" Johny smirked. "You will be feared, and eventually EVERYONE will become scared of you."

"How come you graduated just a few months ago?" She questioned while I tried my best not to strangle the fucking ghost. "Someone like you should have become a Genin way earlier."

Here it is. People asking questions. I can't lie, but I can't tell the truth either.

"I was busy, playing video-games." I smiled.

"WHAT!" the ghost yelled, completely outraged, but I remained impassive.

"… But you were still going to the academy." She pointed out. "It should have been easy for you. But you had bad grades in every field besides throwing weapons. Until 2 weeks before the graduation exam. Kurota-kun." She approached me, and looked at me into the eyes. "What changed? What happened?"

"I see you did a little research on me." I frowned, avoiding the question.

"It's hard not to be curious about you."

I sighed as I finally answered her. "Nothing really. I just woke up one day, and realized the exam was only two weeks away. So I trained and studied, and I've continued to do so, because it's actually really fun. I like seeing my body grow stronger, and I like learning more jutsus." Which was true. I just didn't say everything.

"..."

"..."

"What kind of half-assed back-story is that..." Johny sighed as he face-palmed.

Yugao-sensei stayed quiet, studying me.

"I'll see you in two days, then." I stood up.

She nodded, and shunshined away without saying anything.

Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. She did question me, but not about my sudden… my new-found grace. I had tried my best to make my movements a little exaggerated, hoping to make the change seem gradual.

"What a waste of time. Training this stupid sword art instead of your psychic powers…" the ghost groaned.

"I like it." I shrugged, making him even more pissed.

* * *

I decided to go shopping this afternoon, to search for a decent present for Hinata's sister. So I went through several shops, without finding anything really good, until someone called me.

"Kurota-san! What are you doing here?"

I turned, to see Ino gawking at me surprised. "I'm wondering if I should buy flowers, obviously. You?"

"Well, it's my shop." She informed me matter-of-factly.

"Oh." I put the flower that I picked back where I found it.

"Why do you want flowers?" She frowned. "A date maybe?"

"Nope. Just for a birthday."

"You want to give flowers as a present for a birthday?" She raised her eyebrows, surprised.

"I don't know." I shrugged. "I never went to a birthday before."

Yep. I really have no social life whatsoever.

"Farasuke-san."

I turned my gaze to the door in the back, and found a light blonde haired man staring at me.

 ** **Mind Reader, Mind Invader****

 ** **LV** **84** **Inochi Yamanaka****

"I am Ino's father. Welcome to our shop."

The two of them didn't seem to see Johny, even with their mind abilities… Maybe it's because of my eyes?

"Nice to meet you." I nodded to him and returned to Ino. "So flowers aren't good? What would be a decent present then?"

"Um, well, I think anything home-made would do..."

"Were you by any chance invited to the Hyûga's party?" Inoichi asked me, still staring at me insistently. At my eyes, more precisely, as if he wanted to… read my thoughts. Good luck with that.

"Yes, Hinata-chan gave me an invitation." I confirmed and headed to the exit. "I'll be going now. Thanks Ino-san."

"Any time..." She waved her hand awkwardly at me. Strange how everyone's behaviour changed since my fight with Lee.

"Can't you just buy some meaningless bauble and be done with it?" Johny sighed as he continued to follow me.

"This is the first birthday party I've ever been invited to," I reminded him. "I don't want to mess things up."

He shook his head, clearly disapproving, but stayed quiet.

"Anything home-made, huh..." I muttered, wondering what I should craft. Clothes? Too simple. Maybe I could use my Fuinjutsu? Too complicated. What if I do both? Like some kind of clothes with seals on it… But she's still growing, she'll become too tall for it soon… Some kind of bracelet maybe?

I smiled as the little project took form in my head. This was fine… A bit hard for my level, but I was convinced I could manage.

* * *

"What is it, brat?"

"I need help with Fuinjutsu." I told Jiraiya who was currently peeping in the women's bathroom. Naruto was training behind me.

"Go on. Huhuhuhu..." He chuckled perversely.

"First: I need to learn how to make a summoning scroll." I declared, crossing my arms, and Brun and Aeris waited impatiently for the answer.

He turned to me, and put his binoculars down. "Why? You found a new intelligent being willing to sign a contract with you? I don't think so." He declared sarcastically.

"Actually, yes. Please, don't ask how, just help me." I grinned and he rolled his eyes.

"All right. It's not very difficult anyway, since you already know transference seals."

Obviously he didn't believe me, again, but it didn't really matter. Perhaps it's better that way.

"Ero-senniiiin! I did it!" Naruto shouted behind us.

We turned our heads to him, and noticed a little tadpole under his hand. Wait, it had little legs…

"Arrrg! You die! You no talent bum!" Jiraiya yelled too. Damn, that's harsh.

Naruto gritted his teeth, and pointed his finger to the little tadpole.

"Look closely, it has hind-legs!"

"…"

"…"

"Gaaah! Just at what point can we call it a toad!" The blonde complained, taking his head between his hands.

"Once more!" Jiraiya ordered.

"I know!" Naruto returned to his training.

"So. How is it done?" I questioned when Naruto went back to his training.

"Simple. You make a classic transference seal, but instead of tying it with another seal, you tie it to the beings you want to summon. There's a little ritual for that. Then you can add a few adjustments, like making it so anyone who would sign the scroll with its blood can summon the beings. It's the most difficult part."

"Hmm. But I don't need to add this, since only I will use it..." I mused.

"Right." He raised his eyes to the sky. "Is that all?"

"Nope." I grinned, and he sighed again.


	38. Chapter 36

****Disclaimer** **:** **I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.****

* * *

 ** **New chapter, it's been a long time, again. I'm working on a project so I have a lot of work, sorry.****

 ** **Review Replies:****

 ** **: Yes, all elements.****

 ** **MysticSpider: Short chapters? The chapter 1 was not even 900 words, now we jumped to at least 2500 per chapter. I think that's quite an improvement!****

 ** **matrience: If I ever drop this, I'd say it and tag it 'discontinued' in the summary.****

 ** **flamelegendvargas: Haha, I won't start to include things from other universes like DMC or others. That would be one cluster fuck...****

 ** **lobao: No spoil. That applies to other people who ask me what will happen or when in the reviews.****

 ** **Em Cay: Kurota just binded Johny too him with a Mana Rope.****

 ** **CainLionheart: You'll see when he raise a skill to 100!****

* * *

 ** **All right, I hope you enjoy this! Thank you for your support.****

* * *

"Hurry! We're going to be late!"

"Yeah, yeah."

It was the middle of the afternoon, Dad and me were following Mom to the Hyuga's domain.

"If you didn't take so much time to pick your clothes..." My father groaned, making me smile.

He seemed to be considering this party a drudgery. That was so like him.

In the end, we were all wearing traditional robes. I had been informed by Hinata-chan that it was the norm.

"So formal." I muttered as I moved my arms around, feeling uneasy in the dress.

"So funny." Johny smirked. "You look like some religious fanatics from my world."

"It's here!" Mom pointed at the entrance with her finger. We could already hear people chatting from the distance.

"Your invitation, please." A Hyûga was standing there, tending his hand to us.

We each gave him our invitation, and walked into the courtyard. I had my elementals with me, but I let them explore the new place together.

"Now presenting, Sir and Lady Farasuke and their son." The guard announced us.

Some people stopped talking, and I was shocked to notice a few Hyûga even activating their Byakûgan and examining us.

"Looks like you're popular already." John said sarcastically.

"Hmph." I shrugged. "Come on, let's not stand here doing nothing." I gestured my parents to move.

"Th-Thank you for coming."

I turned and saw Hinata-chan giving a slight bow to us. She looked good in a kimono.

"Hinata-chan. Thank you for inviting us." I returned the bow, and she nodded.

"Are you Kuro-chan's teammate?" Mom asked curiously. "You're pretty."

"Mom!" I hissed while Hinata-chan was blushing from the compliment. "I told you don't call me _that_."

"Where's your sister ?" She tried to shuffle my hair but I took a step away from her. "We have presents!"

"Um, this way..." She guided us through the crowd. Is this really how birthdays are? There were so much people…

Soon, we saw a little girl with white eyes and long black hair reaching the middle of her back.

 **The Hyûga Heiress**

 **Lv 7 Hanabi Hyûga**

"Hanabi, this is Kurota-kun and his family." Hinata-chan presented us.

The little sister turned to us, a curious look on her face.

"Kurota… Farasuke?" She examined us.

"Yes."

"...You have green eyes." She noted, observing me.

"Indeed." I replied and crossed my arms.

"You said he had shiny blue eyes!" She turned to her sister, pouting.

"U-um..." Hinata hesitated, looking at me while blushing.

So she told her family. Or at least her little sister. That's troublesome.

"I left them home today." I smiled.

"Goddammit, I knew you'd forgot something!" Dad laughed with me as he punched my shoulder lightly and mom rolled her eyes.

I noticed the surprised expression on Hanabi's face, and even Hinata seemed uneasy.

I guessed that we were supposed to be more polite and formal with the Hyûga Heiress.

"Anyway." I took out my gift. "Happy birthday, lady Hanabi." I tended her my present.

"Happy birthday!" My parents agreed and mom gave her her present while dad… Well dad didn't bring any presents.

"Ah… Thank you." She nodded and took our gifts. My mother's was a wonderful white kimono made by her own hands.

"A bracelet?" She raised her eyebrows when she opened my little package.

"An armband." I corrected. "There are seals on it, so you can store things. You can even store a little chakra on this side." I showed her the side where it was supposed to be in contact with skin. "If you concentrate the right way, you'll be able to store and release chakra from it. It's a great chakra control exercise as well." I advised.

"O-Okay..." She mumbled. "But I think my family won't let me wear it until it is examined."

"Right." I sighed. I never liked when mom verified the clothes I made, so of course I wouldn't really appreciate the Hyûga family analysing my seals. On top of that, they were going to probably learn more about me, especially the extent of my Fuinjutsu mastery.

"It is great, thank you Kurota-san." She nodded to me, and we took it as our clue to leave.

"Now what?" I wondered as soon as we had left the building.

"Now we'll let you be alone!" Mom giggled and took my father's arm to take him away. "Have fun you two!"

I shook my head as I watched my mother sending me weird winks as she left me with dad.

"There's so much people. Is it always like that?" I asked her.

"Y-yes… Um… Kurota-kun, y-you need to salute my father… It's formalities..."

"Ah." I kinda doubt everyone went to him to pay their respects, but I let her guide me through the place nonetheless. Funny how I have to go to him, but not my parents. I recognised Ino's father talking with a big man on the side, and other people like the Hokage or Danzô, before we entered a building and went to a big room.

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Hiashi Hyûga**

The clan-head of the Hyûga was arm crossed, with a severe expression on his face, glaring at a little girl in front of him.

She wore a black dress with a knee length skirt, black stockings supported with garters and black boots.

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Ruri O'Brien**

I raised an eyebrow when I saw her. What the fuck? She looks younger than me! How could she be over level 85? And what's up with that weird name? Or those weird clothes…

"…for something. I am going to..." She was talking to the head-clan apparently but interrupted herself when she saw me. Wait... not me.

I controlled my reaction when I realized that she was staring at Johny, who was surprised too. Slowly, she followed my invisible mana rope with her eyes and ended up staring at me.

She considered me for a second, and finally smiled while I remained impassible.

"Pardon my intrusion, sir. It seems what I have been searching for has already been taken care of." She turned and walk away, followed by what I believed were Hyûga guards or something like that.

"Interesting." Johny commented. "I didn't think there would be other people capable of seeing me in this world. And her clothes..."

I stayed quiet, waiting for Hinata-chan to speak.

"Father… This is my teammate and my f-friend, Kurota-kun."

He turned to us, and looked severely at me. I figured it was his normal expression, but he seemed to wait for something.

I remarked Hinata-chan next to me who had bowed down. Wow this is so… Wait, does he wants me to do the same thing? I turned my gaze to him again, he was narrowing his eyes.

Despite the protestations of some annoying ghost, I bowed down too.

"Kurota-kun. I am Hinata's father, the Hyûga clan head. I heard a lot about you. I thank you for taking care of my daughter."

I stood up and nodded to him.

"… Nice to meet you."

Despite my high mental stats, I am really uneasy with this kind of thing. Thankfully he motioned us to leave as soon as he finished scanning me with his eyes.

"Hinata. Stay here, I have something to ask you." He required suddenly.

She froze just before the exit, and I turned back to her.

"Y-yes, father. I will see you later… Kurota-kun." She waved her hand at me awkwardly and closed the door.

"What was that?" I scratched my head in front of the entrance.

"I'm wondering the same thing." Johny agreed.

"Oh yeah, that girl. She could _see_ you, she _looked_ at you. How could she do that?"

He shrugged. "No idea. Normally, only high skilled mana-users, divine beings, or demons can see me."

"Demons?" I repeated. "What do you call a 'demon'?"

"You think I ever met one?" He said sarcastically. "She's not a demon, idiot."

"I think anything could be possible." I replied.

"Farasuke-san. I see you have come too."

I turned and discovered Danzô, staring at me suspiciously.

"Good afternoon to you too." I greeted him.

"You know him?" Johny raised an eyebrow.

Danzô took a step forward to me.

"Have you decided?"

"Yes. I don't want to join you, but I could definitely use some advanced training advices." I answered him.

"I see. That's unfortunate; I am sure you will regret it some day."

And with that, he left me and rejoined the Hokage who had been observing us the whole time.

"You did good. No one in this world could train you properly." Johny approved.

"Hm." I said absent-mindedly. I feel like Danzô is up to something, surely he wouldn't threaten me? With his reputation, I wouldn't be surprised if he considered me a threat for Konoha or something like that.

"Kuro!" Kiba called me from the side as soon as I were a little away from the building.

"You came?" I raised my eyebrows when I got to him. "I thought you didn't like this kind of thing."

"My sister made me…" He groaned. "I don't like these clothes at all, is it always like that at Hyûga parties?"

"Apparently, yeah… They say it's traditional clothes." I answered.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru sighed as he joined us.

"They have some nice appetizers though." Chôji followed him.

"Haha, you guys look so weird in these outfits!" Kiba laughed.

"See?" Johny whispered creepily in my ear. "These outfits are ridiculous."

"You were invited too? There are so many people." I frowned. "I didn't know birthdays were like that."

"Believe me, they're a special case!" Kiba continued laughing.

"… What do you mean, 'you didn't know birthdays were like that.'" Shikamaru frowned.

I was about to answer, but Ino joined us, seeming excited.

"Hey! Guess what!" She grinned to us. "They say they organised a..."

She was cut by a man addressing the crowd.

"Thank you for coming, everyone. As you all know, we organised a ball today."

"I didn't know." I remarked bitterly.

"Me neither." Kiba frowned, looking around him.

"Lady Hinata will now open the dance with the partner of her choice." the man continued.

"… Troublesome." Shikamaru summarised the situation as the crowd formed a circle around a dancing area, where Hinata-chan was coming from.

"She's heading towards us..." Kiba's eyes widened and he took a step away, slightly panicked. "Shit, shit, shit..."

"You said it." I groaned, while Johny laughed his ass out when he realised we didn't know how to dance.

Hinata-chan stopped in front of me, and tended her hand. Her hair was covering her eyes so I couldn't see them, and she was completely red. Is this what her father asked her to do just before? The crowd became all quiet around us.

"W-what, me?" I half-laughed as I pointed a finger to myself, and John kept laughing. "I don't..."

Someone pushed me from behind and I ended up taking a step on the stage. I noticed all the people staring at us, whispering among them.

"Who is he?"

"Her teammate, apparently..."

"Isn't he a civilian?"

She took my hand and led me to the middle of the stage. I could tell she wasn't doing this willingly. Or maybe she was, but her dad surely influenced her decision.

"Hinata… Um… I don't know how to dance." I hissed through my teeth.

"L-let me… guide you." She said simply, her face crimson.

Oh well, I guess I'll learn fast. It was unfortunate Hinata-chan had to do this, but I couldn't exactly leave her alone in front of everybody either.

The music started ; it was slow and rhythmic, making it easy to follow along. Damn, I'd never seen my teammate this red.

Her right hand holding to mine and her left hand placing mine on her waist, we started circling around, our clothes fluttering gracefully.

In this situation, a normal person would make mistakes due to the embarrassment and trip on their foot because he had never danced before. That wasn't the case for me. Not only did I have [Gamer's Mind] which allowed me to think clearly, but I also had [Refined Flawless Movements] as well. I was calm and poised, following Hinata-chan's lead with grace. On top of that, I had high INT and WIS which allowed me to memorize the right stances and moves in my mind and learn them quickly.

I smiled when I remarked Aeris and Brun beginning to dance too, imitating us.

 _Ping!_

Ah, as expected.

 **A skill has been created through a special act.**

 **Through continuous exercise of dance and graceful movements, a new skill "Dancing" has been created!**

 **[Dancing (Passive) Lv1 EXP: 9.23%]**

 **A performance art form consisting of purposefully selected sequences of human movement. Generally performed with the accompaniment of music.**

 **Allow the user to dance better as skill level increases.**

Immediately, I _knew_ how to dance, and started to take more part in our movements. Hinata-chan's face turned from red to excitement as she truly started enjoying dancing. Her skin glowed from her smile and perspiration, giving her a radiant feeling to the crowd, and I smiled back at her. Twirling her around as if we were showing a grand performance, the musicians played along with our dance, getting inspired as well. As the last verse of the song was coming to its end, she was now following my lead, dancing and swaying to the song gracefully, and finally coming to a beautiful halt synced perfectly with the musicians.

The audience applauded and some even cheered as we bowed, hand to hand.

"That was wonderful!"

"Truly splendid!"

"That's my son! That's my son!"

"What a great performance!"

"Amazing!"

"Don't know how to dance, my ass!"

Ignoring Johny's comment, I hear compliments from all around that make Hinata-chan become even redder until eventually, she fainted.

"Hinata-chan!" I caught her before she fell, and carried her bridal style out of the stage, causing random girls to squeal.

"She fainted." I told the Hyûga people who came to us. Not wanting to have an other talk with the clan's head, I left her in their hands. She always wakes up eventually after these blackouts. Though she usually only fainted when Naruto was around before.

As the musicians started another music and people began dancing too, I walk by to Kiba and the others. Aeris and Brun were still dancing on the stage. Apparently, they learned how to dance pretty quickly, is it because of my high INT or elementals are just like that?.

"He's so cute!"

"He's totally my type..."

"Handsome..."

I tried to ignore the comments I was hearing, but I still blushed a little.

"Welcome to popularity, brat." Johny smirked.

"Gah… Am I really handsome?" I wondered.

"I can't judge, but I'd say it's more your attitude." the ghost answered me.

"Dude!" Kiba greeted me, punching me lightly on the shoulder. "Holy shit that was awesome! Where'd you learn to dance like that Kuro?"

"You wouldn't believe me." I smiled, shaking my head.

"Kurota… You're in trouble right now..." Shikamaru told me with a worried expression. "You should hide, they..."

"Kurota-kun!"

I froze when I recognised the voice, and put two and two together.

"Do you want to dance, since Hinata blacked out?" Ino blushed and shook her head to show off her hair as she placed her hand in front of me, waiting for me to grab it.

"U-um, would you want to dance with me?" An other girl I didn't even know showed up.

I saw Shikamaru closing his eyes, entering a mourning expression.

… I ended up dancing with a dozen other girls, and raised my [Dancing] skill to level 17. I even got a point of DEX and VIT. Because yes, dancing is fucking tiring.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading, I have no idea when the next chapter will be coming. Hopefully next week. I'll update Kurota's status and skills for before the tournament, too.  
**


	39. Chapter 37

**Disclaimers: I don't own Naruto, and I don't own The Gamer (Manhwa).**

* * *

 **New chapter.**

 **Review Replies:**

 **MKaius: More character interaction? There you go.  
**

 **way of life: While I don't consider harem a bad thing, I won't build a harem for Kurota. You'll see.**

 **feba anata: He already is. If you mean in all his ultimate forms, well I can't tell you that.**

 **Em Cay: Kurota is still 12 years old. His birthday is in a few months.**

 **I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

The day after Hanabi-chan's birthday, I continued my training. One of my priorities was gaining a level to invest two more points in Wisdom. However, I couldn't farm zombies like I used to, there was still a possibility that my power decided to spawn some innocent people from other universes.

So I had to do it the old way. Completing quests.

As I was walking through the village, I could see a few different people with a yellow question mark above their heads, meaning they could give me quests. For example, Ichiraku.

"Need any help?" I asked the old man who was making ramen as I was eating.

"Oh yeah, actually I need to deliver a package to a friendly restaurant. If you were to do it, I'd reward you later on!"

 **A quest has been created.**

 **Quest alert: Deliver Ichiraku's package!**

 **Ichiraku needs to deliver a package to a restaurant.**

 **Package delivered : 0/1**

 **Completion reward: 200 XP, increased reputation with Ichiraku, free meals for a week.**

 **Completion failure: Disappointment of Ichiraku**

 **YES/NO**

"Sure."

And just like that, I picked up quests from random people in the village. I found out there was actually a lot more people with a question mark above their head than I ever noticed. The funny thing was, I knew I was being followed by someone, and he probably had a hard time figuring out why I was suddenly helping people. And he's not the only one.

"Brat… Why are you wasting your time for these weaklings!" Johny finally snapped.

"It's not a waste. And I have three clones training for me at the same time." I replied.

With my increase in chakra capacity, and the shadow clone skill leveling up, I was now capable of producing three clones instead of two.

"Plus, these jobs are good for training physical stats..."

Running around delivering packages, catching fleeing cats, carrying heavy things for old people…

"… and polishing various skills."

Indeed, I had accepted multiple kinds of requests, and I eventually helped a few artisans. Like that, I had gained the [Cooking] skill, the [Forging] skill, the [Repairing] skill, the [Nursing] skill, the [Gardening] skill…

 _Ping!_

 **You've received the title Helpful Adventurer.**

 **[Helpful Adventurer]**

 **Obtained after completing 50 quests.**

 **People are more eager to let you help.**

 **People will naturally come to you to ask for help.**

 **25% more quests appear.**

 **25% increase rewards or salary after completing a quest or job.**

"Fifty already? Sweet, it gave me a title..." I grinned at the window.

"What are you talking about?! You don't make any sense!" the ghosts began to tear out his non-existent hair.

"Let's try it..." I changed my title.

I walked for a bit, and after a short amount of time someone called me.

"Hey, you're that guy who helps people, right? Could you help me carrying furniture?"

 _Ping!_

 **A quest has been created.**

 **Quest alert: Help Arata carry the furniture.**

 **Arata needs help to carry some furniture.**

 **Furniture carried: 0/4**

 **Completion reward: 300(375) XP, increased reputation.**

 **Completion failure: Disappointment of Arata, status effect [Lumbago] for 40 hours.**

 **YES/NO**

"Sure, I'll help you." I agreed and discretely pushed the YES button.

"Aaaahhh!" John let out a huff of frustration, irritated.

As I helped the guy, I thought about the title I gained. The effects… were influencing people around me to give me quests? How could this be possible? Could it be my power was messing with people so that they needed help, to create new quests for me?

And if that was the case, was it me doing it unconsciously? Or… someone else? _Something_ else?

"Phew." I sighed as I put the last table down.

"Thanks! Here, for your contribution." The guy nodded to me and gave me some money.

 **+375XP**

 **Your level has risen by one!**

This is the second level I gained after completing all those quests. I had continued doing quests even after leveling up, because I wanted to gain more skills.

When I returned home, my mom informed me that I had been invited by the Hyûga clan-head to their domain tomorrow. I happily refused, causing my mother to sigh while shaking her head. My father, however, gave me a discrete approving nod.

"Okay, let's do this." I mumbled as I created an Instant Dimension after going to my room.

"What is it this time." Johny demanded.

"Ummm… Let's say I'm going to hack my brains." I opened my status window. My elementals were staring worriedly at me, knowing what I was about to do, so I gave them a little smile to comfort them. After that, I put two points in WIS.

Aaaaaannnd my brain exploded again.

 **Since your WIS passed 100, you gained a random ability related to your brains.**

 **A new skill, [Accelerated Mind], was created.**

 **Since your WIS passed 100, you gained the skill [Elemental Affinity].**

 **Since your WIS passed 100, you gained the skill [Clever Genius].**

"Aaa." I groaned as I rubbed my temples. I was getting used to it, so it hurt less than before, but still. It was as if somebody was manipulating my brains and making new connections, while adding a little of something that I wouldn't have been able to obtain otherwise.

" _Kurota! Are you okay?"_ The little elementals worried.

"I'm fine…Huh." I raised an eyebrow when I read the new skill effects.

 **[Accelerated Mind (Active) LV1 EXP 0,00% / MP: 5000 per second]**

 **Allow the user to increase his thinking speed with time manipulation, allowing him to analyze situations faster than usual.**

 **Additional 5000 MP spent per second per degree of increase.  
**

* * *

 **[Elemental Affinity (Passive) LVMAX ]**

 **In the past, men learned the true power of elements and how to use them properly.**

 **The user's control and sensitivity are increased, improving his affinity with elements.**

 **\+ 5 to all affinities.**

 **50% increase to element related skill effects.**

 **15% decrease cost to elements related skills.**

* * *

 **[Clever Genius (Passive) LV1 EXP: None]**

 **The user has learned to learn the most of books, and to better use objects above their normal capabilities.**

 **5% decrease to stat requirement from books, weapons and other objects.**

 **Books can now give extra bonuses when learned.**

 **Weapons can now give extra bonuses when used.**

 **This skill levels up every 10 WIS.**

I tried accelerating my mind for a moment, and indeed the world seemed to slow down. My body too decelerated, it was just my thinking speed and senses that weren't slowed.

How was it possible for my brains and my body to function so differently, so out of time? Normally that would mess with my biological condition, I think, but I guess it's another effect of [Gamer's Body] or [Gamer's Mind].

Merely three seconds later, I ran out of mana and the world moved normally again.

"..."

I accepted the reality of this skill easily, as I was becoming more and more used to these bullshit powers. This was actually less surprising than the title I obtained earlier. But still, time manipulation? If I was obtaining this kind of skill at 100 WIS, who knows what I was going to have at 150? Or perhaps I wouldn't be able to obtain skills through stats anymore.

[Elemental Affinity] was quite useful too. Because it was a skill that affected not only my elementals, but also my Katon and Futon jutsus. Which means theoretically my elements attacks deal 50% more damage than before. On top of that, I gained 5 points in all affinities, which raised my resistance to elements, learning speed… It was quite a boost.

The last one, [Clever Genious], allowed me to learn books which I couldn't learn otherwise, and gave me extra bonuses. I could also gain more stats from weapons. Just now it didn't make me stronger, but it was still useful. I wonder what kind of bonuses existed.

* * *

I continued to train, and after two days my mother called me and dad.

"I was invited by the Hyûga clan head!" She grinned excitedly as she exhibited proudly an invitation letter.

"And you're proud of that?" I groaned.

"Kurota!" She protested. "They're Hinata-chan's family!"

"What the hell do they want to you?" Dad frowned as she took the letter and start to read. "Hmmm… Wait a second..." He paled.

"That's right!" Mom grinned. "They invited you too!" Suddenly the atmosphere changed and became darker. My mother's eyes were covered by shadow and we couldn't see whatever expression she was making. "And you're going to accept."

My father made a face but still accepted. I let out a small chuckle.

"You find that funny? They send us invitations, but it's you they want to see. So..." He smirked. "You're coming too."

"What? No way I am..." I protested.

"Kuro-chan…" Mom groaned.

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

"… no way I am missing this. When do we go?" I rectified my answer at the last moment.

"Great!" Mom came back to her usual self. "We're leaving in a hour, get readyyyy!" She left us.

"..."

"..."

Dad and I exchanged a glance and sighed loudly together.

"Looks like we don't have much choice..."

"Let's get it over with." I mumbled. "Once they see me they won't invite us again, hopefully."

"I wouldn't bet on that..."

* * *

"Welcome." Hinata's father greeted us.

"Thank you for inviting us." My mother answered. "We didn't get the occasion to talk last time."

"Good afternoon." Dad and me simply said from behind mom.

"You may join my daughter in the backyard, Kurota-san." The Hyûga clan-head told me.

I noted the use of 'san'.

"Uh, okay..."

Mom nodded to me, and I watched my parents and the clan-head walk away in the building while dad gave me a pitying look.

Huh, weird. He actually doesn't want to see me, but my parents. I guess he really invited them only.

I shrugged, and walked to backyard. Might as well say hello to Hinata-chan since I'm here.

"Damn, I didn't notice it last time with all the people but this is really a huge domain." John remarked, observing the area around.

"It is the most powerful ninja clan of Konoha." I explained. "It used to be the Uchihas before, but they got slaughtered by a traitor."

"Just one guy killed them all and they were considered the most powerful? I'd say they were quite overestimated."

"You have a point. They had a genetic trait, a kekkai-genkai, called 'Sharingan' : an eye capable of seeing through Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. That's why they were respected and feared…but they were incredibly arrogant as well. That guy, Itachi, was a genius and became the captain of the special section of ANBUs at ten years old. He killed them all except his little brother, Sasuke..."

"Maybe he had discovered the minds' power somehow." Johny suggested.

"K-Kurota-kun?"

I turned to the voice, Hinata-chan. At her side was her little sister.

"Hey." I greeted.

"Who were you talking to?" Hanabi asked curiously.

"Nobody. I was reciting to myself an extrait of a book about the Uchihas I found interesting."

They bought it easily.

"W-what are you doing here?" Hinata-chan asked.

"Your father invited my parents, and they got me to come along."

"O-oh..."

"You mean father let you venture in the domain freely?" Hanabi widened her eyes, disbelieving.

"Pretty much, yes."

Well, I had sensed a few Hyûga monitoring me with their eyes, but yes. Was that really an issue?

They exchanged a glance, surprised.

"Since you're here, w-we could make you visit..." Hinata-chan proposed shyly. How could she still be shy to me, we've known each-other for months... Whatever.

I had planned to leave after saying hello, but I _was_ kinda curious about how huge exactly their domain is. Training could wait.

They led me through the area, presenting me various buildings and Hyûga members. At a point, we saw Neji training his taijutsu in a dojô and he saluted me politely.

"Lady Hinata, lady Hanabi. Farasuke-san. I am surprised you don't seem to consider training a necessity." He told me, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm taking a break." I anwered simply.

"Farasuke-san, I have an idea!" Hanabi said suddenly. "Can you teach me how to dance? Hinata-nee and you were really good at it last time."

"Haha, your sister did all the work at the beginning, perhaps she would be better than me teaching you." I chuckled and turned to Hinata-chan. "Right, Hinata? Hinata?"

She had bowed her head down but we could still se she had become completely red. Neji raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't comment.

"She's going to explode, brat." Johny commented.

"You all right?" I asked as I bowed too to take a better look at her face.

Unfortunately, she raised her head at this moment and found my face at just three centimeters of hers.

"Kyaaa..." She let out as her head became as red as a beetroot, and she fainted. I caught her before she hit the floor.

"Ohooo..." Johny appreciated. "I have to admit, I didn't think you had learned to use mana this way... I'm impressed..."

"Wha-? I didn't do anything!" I protested as Neji snorted contemptuously before leaving.

"Seriously…" I groaned as I put her down slowly. "Woa, she even has a nosebleed…"

I was starting to think Hinata-chan actually liked me. I mean like me not as a friend, or as a teammate, but in romantic way. Of course, I knew nothing about that stuff, as I neglected my relationships for twelve years, but I was not an idiot either. I still went to the academy, and I saw her behavior towards Naruto when he talked to her: turning red, fainting and, more recently, nosebleeds. Considering she loved Naruto… or did she? I wasn't sure of anything anymore...

"Is she okay?" Hanabi worried as she sat besides her sister.

I formed a few hand seals and used the Mystical Palm technique on Hinata-chan's nose to stop the bleeding.

"Yes, she'll wake up soon."

Little Hanabi sighed in relief. I was still sensing some Hyûga observing us, but strangely nobody came to check on Hinata. I supposed they could see I had performed a healing technique and could also check her current state from where they were, but still…

"So, will you teach me?" the Hyûga heiress insisted.

"All right, but only until Hinata wakes up. After that, I'm leaving, I have to train for the tournament."

"Of course!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands.

She rapidly left the room, and came back with a… musician?

"Really?" I let out as I stared at the man who had a shamisen in his hands.

"Please don't mind me." He bowed to me, sat down and began to play with the three cords of his instrument.

Couldn't they use an audio player like everybody? I got it, they're a little rich and powerful...

"Now, let's dance, let's dance!" Hanabi grinned excitedly.

I took her hands with mine and we started to move with the music. What was I doing? I may be good at dancing, but I couldn't invent dance moves on the spot like that!

"...What are you doing?" Johny raised his eyebrows, confused.

"I don't know help me!" I hissed, low voice. Hanabi didn't seem to hear that.

"Ha! No." He smirked.

Goddammit, you fucking asshole, arrogant bastard, worthless scumbag…

In the end, I invented moves based on the dance with Hinata and the other girls, but I modified them a lot since the music was more rhythmic here. I was running out of ideas when Hinata saved me and woke up.

"You're awake." I noted and immediately left Hanabi-chan, who pouted while crossing her arms and frowning. While walking to the big sister, I tightened the grip of my mana rope on Johny, effectively slowly crushing him.

"Gaah.. Stop iiit… I'm sorry..."

Naturally, I ignored him.

"I … fainted?" Hinata seemed to be genuinely surprised by that fact, even though she used to faint a lot.

"Yes. It's okay, I healed your nose."

And… She became red again. Was it some kind of disease? She couldn't possibly have enough blood to become red this often! She didn't seem to have any status effect or conditions when I [Observe]d her.

"… I have to leave, I need to train." I declared as I helped her stand up. She became redder when she took my hand… Oh god, really? I was shipping her with Naruto… How did it turn out like this?

I quickly released my hand and took a step away from her, fearing another blackout.

"S-sure. I'll accompany you… to the entrance." She nodded.

"Bye, lady Hanabi." I waved my hand at the little sister.

"Make sure to come back, I need more lessons." She simply said and turned her back to me.

We left, Hinata and I staying quiet until we arrived at the exit. Luckily, my parents were there chatting with her father, as they were apparently about to leave.

"Kuro-chan!" I crisped when I heard mom calling me like that in front of everyone. "You're leaving already?"

"I have a tournament next month, I have to train." She rolled her eyes when she heard that, but didn't say anything.

"Kurota-san. A word before you leave, please?" The Hyûga clan-head called me.

"Of course."

"We'll wait for you outside." Dad informed me, immediately understanding the man's intention of privacy.

For some reason, Hinata-chan became redder even though I was leaving her to talk to her dad. Did she know what he was going to tell me? And if so, Why would she be embarrassed about that?

Just as we stopped in a room, I understood. Oh no…

"Farasuke-san. I need to ask you something."

"Um… Sure?"

He considered me, observing my reaction.

"At my daughter's birthday party, when you came to salute me..." He began and I relaxed. "I was talking to a girl in black clothes. Do you remember?"

"Yes." I remember her perfectly.

"She was searching for someone, from what she told me. And when she saw you, she gave up and left." He declared as he was looking for a reaction from me. "Do you know her?"

"No."

"..."

He paused, staying quiet for a moment.

"The day after, the Hokage called me. It turns out this girl is now researched in the village, as she isn't a ninja, nor a registered civilian from the village."

A pause again. More observing. I just raised an eyebrow.

"This girl was able to infiltrate the Hyûga domain without anyone noticing her until she talked to me."

"Impressive." I commented, and the man narrowed his eyes.

"Impressive indeed. I would even say astonishing, nay impossible, considering she had _less chakra than a civilian_ when I observed her with my Dôjutsu."

"..."

Someone so high-level without chakra?

"Why do you think she recognized you?"

"I don't know."

 _Ping!_

 **A quest has been created.**

 **Quest alert: Who is the mysterious girl?**

 **A mysterious girl is researched by Konoha. Find out who she is.**

 **Mysterious girl identified: 0/1**

 **Completion reward: 100000 XP, ?  
**

 **Completion failure: None.**

 **Quest automatically accepted.**

"..."

Poker face.

"Really? You have no idea what she could have seen in you to make her give up and leave?"

"Not the slightest." I lied.

"Hmmm."

Another pause. I had the decency of appearing uneasy under his gaze.

"Do you have any idea who she is?"

"An enemy ninja? With some kind of invisible chakra?" I proposed.

"No chakra is invisible to our all-seeing eye." He replied coldly. "We see everything."

Johny chuckled a little at that.

"Maybe she mistook me for the person she's trying to find?" I tried.

"No." He replied categorically.

"How can you be so sure?"

"She said she was searching for a ghost."

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading!  
**


	40. Kurota's stats and skills at Chapter 38

**1000 FAVORITES! Thanks everyone! _That_ is a lot.  
**

 **For those who were wondering where Kurota was in terms of stats and skills, here you go. This is Kurota's stats and skills the day of the tournament.**

* * *

 **S** **tatus window:**

* * *

 **Name:** **Kurota Farazuke**  
 **Title** **:** **Zombie Slayer**  
 **Level: LV** **37** **(** **16.8** **%)**  
 **HP:** **2086** **/** **2086  
CP: ****7475/7475**  
 **MP:** **10500** **/** **1050** **0**  
 **STR:** **53+32.77+22.9=108.71**  
 **VIT:** **53+32.77+22.9=108.71**  
 **DEX:** **50+32.77+22.1=104.91  
CKR: ****65  
CKRC: ****66+53.96=119.96** **  
INT:** **10** **0** **  
WIS:** **100** **  
POINTS:** **8**

 **Fire Affinity: 83  
Air Affinity: 37  
Water Affinity: 7  
Earth Affinity: 11  
Lightning Affinity: 5  
**

* * *

 **Other stats:**

 **Regen HP: 41.73 per hour.**

 **Regen CP: 418.96 per hour.**

 **Regen MP: 2205 per minute.**

* * *

 **Titles (Obtainment Order)**

* * *

 **[Zombie Slayer]**

 **Obtained by killing the boss monster Legion Zombie**

 **50% increase damage when fighting undeads.**

 **50% increase in defense when fighting undeads.**

 **All stats +10 when fighting undeads.**

* * *

 ** **[Helpful Adventurer]****

 **Obtained after completing 50 quests.**

 **People are more eager to let you help.**

 **People will naturally come to you to ask for help.**

 **25% more quests appear.**

 **25% increase rewards or salary after completing a quest or job.**

* * *

 **Skills (Obtainment order)**

* * *

 **[Gamer's mind (passive) LvMAX]**

 **Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through.**

 **Allows peaceful state of mind.**

 **Immunity to psychological status effects.**

* * *

 **[Gamer's body (passive) LvMAX]**

 **Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game.**

 **After sleep in a bed the user recover all HP, CP and MP.**

* * *

 **[Dish Washing (passive) Lv26 EXP: 88,3%]**

 **A technique to wash dishes.**

 **With more mastery, you can clean any dirty spots.**

 **26% increase in dish washing speed.**

* * *

 **[Physical Resistance (passive)Lv22 EXP: 14,07%]**

 **The body's durability and toughness increase and you take less damage.**

 **21% decrease in damage from physical attacks.**

* * *

 **[Henge No Jutsu (Active) Lv67 EXP: 12,08% / CP: 17]**

 **One of the three basic Ninjutsu. It allows the user to change his shape to something or someone that he can picture clearly.**

 **Additional 4 CP per 1 minute**

 **Casting time: 0,1 second**

* * *

 **[Observe (Active) Lv49 EXP: 96,7%]**

 **A skill to find the target's information.**

 **More information are revealed as this skill level up.**

* * *

 **[Throwing Weapons Mastery (Passive) LV 62 EXP: 46,42%]**

 **Allows the user to use thrown weapons such as kunais, shuriken, senbon or more with skill and precision. As the skill grows, more projectiles can be thrown simultaneously. Range and projectile speed improve with STR. Precision improve with DEX.**

 **67% increased damage when you throw something.**

 **144% increased projectile speed.**

* * *

 **[Tailoring (Passive) Lv40 EXP:0,84%]**

 **A crafting skill to make clothes. You're able to make or adapt cloth to suit yourself.**

 **Crafted clothes become better as mastery level rises.**

* * *

 **[Crafting (Passive) Lv11 EXP: 60.6%]**

 **A skill to make something. Humanity has advanced their civilization through inventing things. Crafted objects become better as mastery level rises.**

 **55 % increase efficiency in crafting type skills**

 **Known crafting skills: Tailoring Lv40, Forging Lv13 , Cooking Lv 14  
**

* * *

 **[** **Kawarimi No Jutsu** **(Active) LV** **70** **EXP:** **0,00** **% / CP:** **40** **]  
** **One of the three basic Ninjutsu. An incredibl** **y** **useful defensive jutsu. It grants the ability to change places with objects within a certain size** **and weight** **.**

 **Current range : 80m**

 **Casting time : 0,1 second**

* * *

 **[Bunshin No Jutsu (Active) LV 70 EXP: 0,00 % / CP : 6 per bunshin]**

 **One of the three basic Ninjutsu. The most basic Clone skill, it creates a number of immaterial clones, the clones are unable to make sound and are destroyed if something pass through them.**

 **Additional 3 CP per minute per bunshin**

 **Casting time: 0,1 second**

* * *

 **[Academy Style Taijutsu(Passive & Active) LV53 EXP: 43,3%]**

 **The basic taijutsu taught at the Konoha academy.** **A** **basic form of** **techniques** **involving the martial arts or the optimisation of natural human abilities.**

 **You can only have one taijutsu style skill active at a time.**

 **Passively increase STR, VIT and DEX by 23.5%.**

 **Additional 23.5% increase in STR, VIT and DEX while active.**

* * *

 **[Stealth(Passive) LV38 EXP:71,34%]**

 **The art of being unnoticed. A staple of ninjas, this skill permits the user to blend in crowds and sneak up on enemies.**

 **You're less likely to be noticed by people when sneaking on them.**

 **Efficiency increases with skill level, WIS and DEX.**

* * *

 **[Tree Walking(Active) LV52 EXP: 43,7% / 10 CP per minute]**

 **A training method used to gain more skills with chakra control. This training involves focusing a fixed amount of chakra to the bottom of one's feet, and using that to climb a tree without using one's hands.**

 **While active, you can walk on solid surfaces.**

 **Passively increases CKRC by 25,5%**

* * *

 **[Genjutsu Mastery(Passive & Active) LV84 EXP: 90,04% / CP: ? ]**

 **Unlike ninjutsu, the effects of genjutsu are not real, being only illusions experienced by those who fall victim to it. Genjutsu can be used on the mind, manipulating the 5 senses, or objects, changing the appearance of them, like the Henge No Jutsu.**

 **Passively increase chances to detect genjutsus.**

 **You can make illusions, cost depends of the area of effect.**

 **Your illusion's seems more real as CKRC or WIS increase.**

* * *

 **[Detect Killing Intent(Passive) LV** **23** **EXP:** **41.28** **%]**

 **A skill that detect any killing intent directed at the user or people near him. It is an intinctive skill.**

 **Detects killing intent within 1** **9** **meters from the user's location. It also alerts the user of its origin.**

* * *

 **[World's True Vision (Passive & Active) LV73 EXP: 32% MP: 1175 per minute]**

 **Your eyes have adapted to be able to comprehend the true world.**

 **Passive: you see things more precisely and accurately.**

 **Active: you're able to see more things, that are usually not visible to normal eyes.**

 ** **You see more things more precisely as the skill level increases.****

* * *

 **[Mind Healing: Being's Restoration (Active) LV34 EXP: 43,07% MP: 660]**

 **Long time ago, priests and monks developed techniques to embrace the spirit and mind and use its powers. Among those techniques is the Mind Healing technique which allows to restore the full essence of a being by burning the user's soul.**

 **Without soul stone: heals 420HP. Remove fatigue, status effects and illness.**

 **With soul stone: heals 420 HP, 420CP and 420MP. Remove fatigue, worse status effects and worse illness.**

* * *

 **[Mana Affinity(Passive) LVMAX]**

 **A skill that allows the user to be more sensitive to mana and handle it better.**

 **10% increase in MP recovery rate.**

 **5% increase in total MP amount.**

 **5% increase in magic attack.**

 **5% increase in magic defense.**

 ** **30% increase in related** **MP** **skill effect.****

* * *

 **[Mana Bolt(Active) LV35 EXP: 41,07% / CP: 65]**

 **A skill that attacks by emitting mana. Attack power increases with INT.**

 ** **Range:** **45** **m****

* * *

 **[ID Create (Active) LV18 EXP: 12.5% / CP: 1640]**

 **Used to create Instant Dimensions.**

 **Stronger Instant Dimensions may be created or entered at higher levels.**

 **Currently available ID list:**

 ** **1). Empty ID – Monsters: None****

 ** **2). Zombie ID – Monsters: Zombies****

 ** **3). Ghost ID - Monsters: Ghosts****

 ** **4). Chakra Eaters ID - Monsters: Chakra eaters****

 ** **5). Mix ID - Monsters: All available****

 ** **6). Ogres ID - Monsters: Ogres****

 ** **7). Mana Slimes ID - Monsters: Mana Slimes****

* * *

 **[ID Escape (Active) LV18 EXP 10.25% / CP: none]**

 **Used to escape Instant Dimensions.**

 ** **Stronger Instant Dimensions may be escaped at high level.****

* * *

 **[Mana Shield (Active) LV58 EXP: 77,95% / MP: 226]**

 **One of the most basic defense skill using mana.**

 **The shield's strength and density increase with the user's INT and skill level.**

 **You can cast 58 Mana Shields together.**

 ** **Additionnal** **226** **MP used per minute.****

* * *

 **[Meditate (Active) LV44 EXP: 0,76%]**

 **Men invented Meditation to engage in contemplation or reflection, or in mental exercise for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness. Later, it was used to achieve inner piece and self control, and to train their chakra sense.**

 **If the user move while meditating, it interrupt the skill.**

 **Increases HP regeneration by 320% when active.**

 **Increases CP regeneration by 320% when active.**

 **Increases MP regeneration by 320% when active.**

 **Increases Stamina regeneration by 320% when active.**

* * *

 **[Kage Bunshin No Jutsu (Active) LV37 EXP: 19,43% / CP: 126 per bunshin]**

 **The Shadow Clone Skill, an advanced non-elemental clone. Each clone is capable of individual thinking and possesses the same stats as the original, the user's total chakra and MP is split evenly among himself and his clones. Upon dispelling, its chakra and experience returns to the user. Clones can't raise physical stats.**

 ** **A clone must have at least** **1630** **CP.****

 ** **Each clone has** **47** **HP.****

 ** **Base casting time:** **1,** **15** **seconds.****

* * *

 **[** **Water Walking(Active) LV51** **EXP: 4% / CP: 50** **per minute ]**

 **A training method used to gain more skills with chakra control. This training involves releasing a constant amount of chakra from the bottom of one's feet, and using that to stand on water.**

 **While active, you can walk on liquid surfaces.**

 **Passively increases CKRC by 25.25%**

* * *

 ** **Since your CKRC passed 50, you gained the skill [Sense Chakra].****

* * *

 **[Sense Chakra(Passive) LV79 EXP: 12,3%]**

 **You can sense chakra directly all around you. With great mastery, you could be able to differentiate people, and detect lies.**

 **Range and precision increase with skill level.**

 **Versatility increase with INT.**

 **Range: 221m**

 **Meditation quadruple the range of this skill and greatly increase precision.**

* * *

 **[Sense Danger (Passive) LV9 EXP:32,8%]**

 **A natural survival instinct. It allows the user to sense when a danger might appear.**

 **The higher the skill level, the earlier and the more precise you can sense danger.**

* * *

 **[Mana Armor (Active) LV75 EXP: 20,81% / MP: 100]**

 **An advanced defense skill using mana.**

 **The armor's strength and density increase with the user's INT and skill level.**

 **Additional 100MP used per minute.**

* * *

 **[Mana Spear(Active) LV28 EXP:0,00% MP: 360]**

 **A skill that allows the user to create two spears made of mana and to throw them to his target.**

 **Attack power depends on INT.**

 **Range: 66m**

* * *

 **[Kenjutsu Mastery(Passive) LV48 EXP: 0,00%]**

 **A skill that allows the user to better handle sword weapons.**

 **106% increase in damage with swords.**

 **106% increase in attack speed with swords.**

 **48% increase in DEX when using swords.**

* * *

 **[Potent Chakra (Passive) LV4 EXP: None]**

 **The user's chakra is more thick and dense, allowing him to spend less chakra in jutsus.**

 **This skill levels up every 5 CKR points.**

 **13% increase in total CP amount.**

 **13% decrease in cost of CP skills.**

 **130% increase of CP recovery rate.**

* * *

 **[Chakra Enhancement(Passive & Active) LV37 EXP: 0,08% / CP:?]**

 **Humans can surpass their limits by manipulating chakra and concentrating it in certain body parts. With more mastery, one can acquire incredible strength and speed.**

 **Allows the use to enhance a certain user's body part using CP.**

 **The precision, speed, versatility and power increase with CKRC and skill level.**

 **Passively increase CKRC by 28.5%.**

 **Passively increase STR, VIT and DEX by 28.5.**

* * *

 **[Katon: Hosenka No Jutsu(Active) LV19 EXP: 62% CP: 181 per fireball]**

 **A C-rank jutsu to attack an enemy at short range, it is mostly used as a distraction.**

 **With more mastery, one can control the flames one by one with chakra.**

 **Creates a volley of small fireballs.**

 **Range: 29 meters**

* * *

 **[Chakra Nature Transformation: Katon (Passive) LV43 EXP: 41,12%]**

 **One of the basic elemental chakra transformation, performed by super-heating chakra and releasing it from a part of the body.**

 **With more mastery, control over your flames increases.**

 **Experience of this skill increase faster with high CKRC and Fire Affinity.**

 **Allows the user to transform his chakra in fire.**

 **21.5 % decrease cost in Katon jutsus.**

 **43% increase damages with Katon jutsus.**

* * *

 **[Front Lotus (Active) LV10 EXP: 1%]**

 **The user** **kicks their opponent into the air and then** **follow the target's shadow.** **Once behind their opponent, the user restrains** **him** **and** **dive** **them into the ground head first while rotating at** **good s** **peed,** **and then the user jump away just before the impact.**

 **Requires** **8** **0** **in all physical stats.**

 **This technique damages the user's body if his physical stats aren't above 120.**

* * *

 **[Celestial Gates Opening (Active) LV31 EXP: 8,47%]**

 **The celestial gates keeps the body from expiring too soon and injuring itself. By undergoing intense training, one can learn to disable these points and remove the body's normal limit.**

 **While in this state, the user damages his body with every move.**

 **Damages reduces as the skill level increases.**

 **Gate of Opening : 100% increase in STR ; 50% increase in VIT ; 100% increase in DEX**

 **The Gate of Opening, located in the brain, removes the restraints of the brain on the muscles.**

 **Gate of Heal: 50% increase in STR, Restore 90% of missing stamina.**

 **The Gate of Heal, located in the brain,** **increases the user's physical strength and temporarily re-energises the body.**

 **Gate of Life: 50% increase in STR, 150% increase in VIT, 50% increase in DEX**

 **The Gate of Life, l** **ocated on the spinal cord, allows the user to use the Reverse Lotus. The increased blood flow turns the skin red.**

 **Gate of Pain: 100% increase in STR, 50% increase in VIT, 100% increase in DEX  
**

 **The Gate of Pain, located on the spinal cord, increases the user's speed and power. May cause muscle tissue to tear on use.**

 **Gate of Limit: Available at skill level 50**

* * *

 **[Fuinjutsu Mastery(Passive/Active) LV19 EXP:58,79%]**

 **The unofficial fourth shinobi art, to seal objects, living beings, chakra, along with a wide variety of other things within another object. It can also be used to restrict movement or unseal objects either from within something or someone.**

 **You create more efficient seals as skill level increases.**

 **You create seals faster as skill level increases.**

 **Allows the user to create more complicated seals as skill level increases.**

* * *

 **[Shunshin No Jutsu(Active) LV24 EXP: 0,00% / CP: 42 per meter]**

 **By using chakra to temporarily vitalise the body and move at extreme speeds, a ninja can travel short to long distances at an almost untraceable speed. To an observer, it appears as if the user has teleported. The amount of chakra required depends on the overall distance and elevation between the user and the intended destination.**

 **Allows the user to travel distances at very high speed depending on the amount of CP used.**

 **Base casting time: 1.8 seconds**

* * *

 **[Mystical Palm No Jutsu (Active) LV13 EXP 9,11% / CP:?]**

 **A** **llows the user to speed up the body's natural healing process by sending** **chakra** **from** **his** **hands into a wound or afflicted body part.** **It can be used to treat both external and internal injuries.**

 **Greatly i** **ncrease regeneration on the body part targeted,** **depending on the amount of chakra spent** **.**

 **Warning: It is** **vital to match the amount of chakra used to the severity of the affliction or injury.**

 **Effectiveness, precision and versatility increases with CKRC.**

* * *

 **[Contract Elemental(Active) LVMAX]**

 **Long time ago, man realized nature's power and have not skimped out on trying to wield its powers. Eventually they were able to communicate with elementals and could create contracts.**

 **Allow the user to form contracts with elemental spirits.**

 **Contracting more elementals need the skill level of your elemental skills to be 10 times the amount of elemental you contracted.**

* * *

 **[Basic Air Elemental (Active/Passive) LV73 EXP: 59,24% / MP: 177 per minute]**

 **The most basic air elemental. Allows the user to summon an elemental to manipulate air (costs additional MP).**

 **Two forms available: spirit and corporal.**

 **In spirit form, the elemental will stay by the user's side and will not be visible except for the user. The caster borrows the elemental spirit's power to control its elements.**

 **In corporal form, the user materialize the elemental, and give it his own autonomy. Requires a summoning scroll. Cost 635 MP and CP when summoning. Chakra must be transformed in wind nature.**

 **The elemental's attributes will change as the caster's INT, skill level and Air Affinity grows. It will also allow them to summon stronger elementals.**

 **Precision, power and versatility increase as the caster's INT, skill level and Air Affinity grows.**

 **Passively grants + 30 Air Affinity.**

* * *

 **[Chakra Nature Transformation: Futon (Passive) LV34 EXP: 63,3%]**

 **One of the basic elemental chakra transformation, performed by sharpening chakra.**

 **With more mastery, control over your wind chakra increases.**

 **Experience of this skill increase faster with higher CKRC and Air Affinity.**

 **Allows the user to transform his chakra in wind.**

 **17 % decrease cost in Futon jutsus.**

 **34% increase damages with Futon jutsus.**

* * *

 ** **[Mana Rope (Active) LV27 EXP: 0,00% / MP: 8 per meter]****

 **A rope made from mana. It has physical durability and disappears after some time as mana scatters. Can become invisible like Mana Armour.**

 **Mana Rope can be manipulated according to the user's wish, and since it is made of mana it can even affect objects or creatures of indeterminable form. Can only be used by those who have a talent in manipulating mana.**

 **Durability and solidity increases as the user's INT and skill level grows.**

 **Current Duration: 36 minutes.**

 **Invisibility: The user can make the rope invisible as long as it is tied to its body. Cost 80 MP per meter per minute.**

* * *

 ** **[Medium Mana Capacity (Passive) LVMAX EXP: None]****

 **An ability given to the few mana users that are born with an exceptional ability to handle mana.**

 **15% increase effect for all Mana-based skills.**

 **10% decrease mana cost for all abilities.**

* * *

 **[Mana Regeneration (Passive) LV1 EXP: None]**

 **An ability given only to those of special heritage that allows faster recovery of MP.**

 **100% increase for MP regeneration.**

 **This skill levels up every 5 points in INT.**

* * *

 **[Psychokinesis (Active) LV61EXP: 0,00% / MP: ? ]**

 **Allows the user to move objects solely by focusing his mind to such an extent it has real impact on the world.**

 **40.5 Newton of force for 1 second may be exerted every 1 MP consumed. Cost increases with distance.**

 **Range: 71m**

 **Ratio, versatility and precision increase as the user's INT and skill level grow.**

* * *

 ** **[Ferocious Blows (Passive) LVMAX EXP: None]****

 **The user's blows possess incredible strength, and are now sharp enough to have a chance tocause bleeding.**

 **30% increase to Physical Attack Damage.**

 **25% chance when hitting with ONLY your fists to provoke additional bleeding.**

 **15% increase to STR-related effects for all skills.**

* * *

 **[Gifted Body (Passive) LVMAX EXP: None]**

 **The user's body possesses tremendous vitality and resistance.**

 **30% increase in Stamina regeneration.**

 **5% increase in total Stamina amount.**

 **100% increase in Health regeneration.**

 **5% increase in total HP amount.**

 **5% decrease damage from physical attacks.**

 **15% increase to VIT-related effects for all skills.**

* * *

 ** **[Refined Flawless Movements(Passive) LVMAX]****

 **An ability given to those with incredible mastery of their own bodies. Control, synchronised movements, coordination and stamina economy became natural to the user, showing grace in every actions.**

 **30% increase in movement speed.**

 **20% increase in attack speed.**

 **50% increase in precision and accuracy.**

 **15 % increase to DEX effects on all skills.**

 **The user is now ambidextrous.**

* * *

 ** **[Basic Fire Elemental (Active/Passive) LV72 EXP: 75,34% / MP: 178 per minute]****

 **The most basic fire elemental. Allows the user to summon an elemental to manipulate fire (costs additional MP).**

 **Two forms available: spirit and corporal.**

 **Spirit form: the elemental stay by the user's side and is not visible except for the user. The caster borrows the elemental spirit's power to control its elements.**

 **Corporal form: the user materialize the elemental, and give it its own autonomy. Requires a summoning scroll. Cost 645 CP when summoning. CP must be transformed in fire nature.**

 **The elemental's attributes will change as the caster's INT, skill level and Fire Affinity grows.**

 **Precision, power and versatility increase as the caster's INT, skill level and Fire Affinity grows.**

 **Obtaining this skill increase Fire Affinity by 30.**

* * *

 ** **[Dancing (Passive) Lv12 EXP: 9.23%]****

 **A performance art form consisting of purposefully selected sequences of human movement. Generally performed with the accompaniment of music.**

 **Allow the user to dance better as skill level increases.**

* * *

 **[Cooking (Passive) LV14 EXP:21.78%]**

 **[Forging (Passive) LV13 EXP:2.03%]**

 **[Repairing (Passive) LV9 EXP:44,36%]**

 **[Gardening (Passive) LV9 EXP:86,12%]**

 **[Nursing (Passive) LV11 EXP:27,95%]**

 **(A/N: Do you really need a description for those skills?)**

* * *

 ** **[Accelerated Mind (Active) LV39 EXP 53,33% / MP: 4025 per second]****

 **Allow the user to increase his thinking speed with time manipulation, allowing him to analyze situations faster than usual.**

 **Additional 5000 MP spent per second per degree of increase.**

* * *

 **[Elemental Affinity (Passive) LVMAX ]**

 **In the past, men learned the true power of elements and how to use them properly.**

 **The user's control and sensitivity are increased, improving his affinity with elements.**

 **\+ 5 to all affinities.**

 **50% increase to element related skill effects.**

 **15% decrease cost to elements related skills.**

* * *

 **[Clever Genius (Passive) LV1 EXP: None]**

 **The user has learned to learn the most of books, and to better use objects above their normal capabilities.**

 **5% decrease to stat requirement from books, weapons and other objects.**

 **Books can now give extra bonuses when learned.**

 **Weapons can now give extra bonuses when used.**

 **This skill levels up every 10 WIS.**

* * *

 **A/N: Psychokinesis's ratio got nerfed. There are other skills Kurota obtained during this month of training that are not mentioned here. For example, the skill [Katon: Gōkakyū No Jutsu]. Even though Kurota learned it during the month of training, I won't show it.**

 **Gotta say, I'm proud of this page, even though I know that there must be some mistakes somewhere. All these stats and skills take actually more words than a chapter!  
**


	41. Chapter 38

**I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

* * *

"Kuro! Wake up! It is time!"

 **You have slept in your bed. HP, CP & Mp fully restored and all status effects removed.**

"Already?" I moved in my bed, head buried under the pillow, enjoying the feeling of warmth.

"Wake up lazy ass!" I heard my father shout from the stairs.

"Damn..."

Now, you have to understand me. During this month of training, I didn't sleep at all until this night, as I trained _a lot_. I had finally allowed myself a night of sleep before the day of the tournament, and I had to say, I missed it.

"Aaah… Today is the day." I sighed as I sat on the side of my bed.

"You make a stupid face when you sleep." Johny greeted me.

"Good morning to you too. Wait, did you watch me sleep? Ugh..." I grimaced while I dressed.

"I couldn't help but notice you drooling." He smirked. "At least you don't sleep too often for a human."

I was used to this now. It seems Johny couldn't open his mouth without somehow thrash-talking people. Most of the time it was me, of course. Thus I ignored him every time he opened his mouth to say something.

Seriously, I was surprised I didn't get a skill for that.

"Summon Aeris, summon Brun." I muttered and descended to take breakfast.

The two elementals appeared by my side.

"Good morning, Kurota!" They yelled enthusiastically as soon as they popped into life. I nodded in response.

"Today I kick asses." I proclaimed as I sat down and began to eat cereals.

"You better." Dad greeted me back. He was sitting across from me at the table.

"Language. Where are your manners?" Mom sighed as she was washing dishes, and remarked, "You seem very confident."

"Because I am." I replied, mouth full of didn't I get a skill for that too?

"Shouldn't you be more anxious?"

I looked at her, she was the one who has an anxious expression. And some concern too.

"I swear these days you are too calm. Aren't you nervous? This is the chunin exam, you know. It was the same with the genin exam, now that I think about it..."

"But..." I scratched my head. "A ninja has to restrain his emotions …?"

"Not with your family!" She protested. "Your father never had to."

"That's..."

"You go against the Suna girl first."

I turned to my father, who quickly turned his head from my mom back to me.

"She'll be weak against Fire." Dad reminded me and hid quickly back behind his newspaper, while mom sighed heavily.

He just changed the subject, while giving a pointed look to my mom?

"Your father is so subtle." Johny commented sarcastically from the side. I took my time to chew, to temmporize.

They knew I had changed, that something happened to me, and were worried about me. For some reason, however, my father feigned ignorance and covered for me.

"Indeed." I agreed carefully, gladly taking the not-subtle-at-all change of topic. "Next is Gaara, the sand guy."

"This one might be tricky to deal with." My father commented, sipping his coffee.

"And then I'd say it's either Sasuke or Neji. Either way, easier than Gaara."

I was wary of Naruto too. Back in the Forest of Death, he had used Kyubi's chakra. If he had found a way to do that again, he may beat Neji.

"Hah, don't get too cocky son! Deal with the Wind girl first, you'll see about the others later!" He laughed, putting his newspaper down.

I shrugged, while Johny snorted. With Aeris and Brun at my side I didn't think I could lose this one.

"You're going to be late." Mom said.

"Shit..."

"Language!" Mom shouted.

I finished my bowl quickly and left home after saying goodbye.

"You gotta win this, son. You hear me?" Dad smirked from the entrance. I didn't respond, and simply waved my hand at him while I started jogging to the arena.

They knew something was up with me.

"Your parents acted weird today." Johny commented, pulled by the mana rope that was still connected between us after a month.

"Yeah..." I said absentmindedly.

"You used to be nervous before?" He asked, curious.

"Heh… You could say that..." I said, remembering.

* * *

 _-_ _Flashback-_

* * *

 ** _-_ _Years ago, first attempt at the genin exam, Kurota's POV-_**

* * *

" _Come on Kuro-chan, it's just an exam!" Mom tried to cheer me up._

" _Aaaaah… I didn't train, I didn't train! I am soo dead… I'm still not able to do the bunshin jutsu correctly…"_

" _Son!" Dad yelled, a wide grin on his face. "Remember! The key is confidence!_ _You can do it._ _But it's okay if you fail too, we won't be mad at you. Just be yourself!"_

* * *

 ** _-Hours later-_**

* * *

" _Kurota Farasuke!"_

 _Oh no, Iruka-sensei called me… I'm screwed…_

 _I swallowed, and stood up to make my way to the teacher. I breathed slowly and heavily, and I staggered when I bumped into a table._

 _Everyone was looking at me… Everyone was smirking at me…  
_

" _Another civilian who doesn't deserve to be here" I heard someone mutter._

" _This boy's skin is so white… Was he always in our class?"_

" _I heard he doesn't go out very often..."_

" _All he knows is videogames. I hope he fails along with the dead-last freak."_

 _"He doesn't talk, always to the back..."_

 _Even the blonde dead-last is looking at me…_

" _Alright Kurota. You remember how to make a bunshin, right?"_

 _I blinked, and nodded weakly._

" _Go on then." He said gently. "You can do it."_

" _Bun… Bunshin no jutsu!" I said, failing my hand seal miserably._

 _Nothing happened._ _I felt a rush of heat coming up to my cheeks._

" _Bwahaha, he doesn't even know the bunshin jutsu!" Someone yelled from the seats.  
_

" _I'm not sure this hand-seal exists, Kurota." Iruka sighed as he shook his head, disappointed. "I'm sorry, but you got a zero."_

" _A-ah… It...It's all right..."_

 _Don't cry, don't cry._

 _I ran back to my seat as everyone laughed at me. I buried my head_ _as fast as possible_ _in my arms on the table_ _while an other student was called, and didn't move until the end of class._

* * *

 _-Flashback end-_

* * *

 **-Back to present day-**

* * *

I was only eight years old back then... I failed the genin exam three times, like Naruto, before finally getting it right. Along my years at the academy, I slowly learned to stay calm and cool about everything people said about me, even before I received this Gamer power. My parents encouraging me to be myself and the absence of pressure due to me not caring about my public image eventually also led me to stay calm and cool and not give a shit about my grades, and failing each test given to me, except throwing weapons.

When people are unable to act or do as they please, their emotions are locked away, before eventually they snap and let it all out.

Yeah... Those were 'bad' times. Nothing compared to Naruto or Sasuke, but I still remembered the times when I would completely lose myself… And now with the [Gamer's mind], I couldn't snap anymore.

Good thing or not? I didn't know.

How Naruto was able to take it all without family or [Gamer's Mind] to support him, I had no idea. That was the principal thing I admired about him.

"Being nervous doesn't solve anything, and it would be foolish to be anxious after all the training you went through. It's simply impossible that any of those primitive people beat you." Johny said, glaring at everyone passing nearby.

"Well, not the genins anyway." I corrected him, while he scoffed. "Well, maybe not a lot of chunins too." I admitted. "...and probably a few Jonins."

 _'This month of training has been incredibly effective.'_ I thought as I checked my status window and skills window.

 **S** **tatus window:**

* * *

 **Name:** **Kurota Farazuke**  
 **Title** **:** **Zombie Slayer**  
 **Level: LV** **37** **(** **16.8** **%)  
**  
 **HP:** **2086** **/** **2086  
CP: ****7475/7475**  
 **MP:** **10500** **/** **1050** **0  
**  
 **STR:** **53+32.77+22.9=108.71**  
 **VIT:** **53+32.77+22.9=108.71**  
 **DEX:** **50+32.77+22.1=104.91  
CKR: ****65  
CKRC: ****66+53.96=119.96** **  
INT:** **10** **0** **  
WIS:** **100** **  
POINTS:** **8**

 **Fire Affinity: 83  
Air Affinity: 37  
Water Affinity: 7  
Earth Affinity: 11  
Lightning Affinity: 5**

* * *

 **(A/N: If you want information on the levels of the skills, go to the chapter named "Kurota's stats and skills at chapter 38".)**

I continued my genjutsu training with Kurenai-sensei, my Kenjutsu training with Yugao-sensei, my Fuinjutsu training with some advices of Jiraiya-sensei, my Katon training with daddy-sensei...

That was a lot of senseis, now that I thought about it.

Anyway, I constantly had at least three clones, and I also developed my Futon, trained the celestial gates, my mind/mana skills, I also got better at the mystical palm technique, I leveled my [World's True Vision], as well as the Instant Dimensions. My chakra sense got better too, along with my chakra body enhancement. I also noticed [Clever Genious] was giving me a few bonuses when wielding weapons, like adding stats improvements or levels to specific skills.

The downside was that I didn't see a lot of people besides my senseis and Naruto. Every evening we decided to eat Ichiraku's ramens together. He talked a lot about his training and how he was going to beat the crap out of everyone. I talked little during these meetings with him.

Once he asked me questions about the Fuinjutsu stuff I've been learning, since he was always with Jiraiya when I asked for advice. I replied to him the best I could, as simply as possible, and he said:

"Seems pretty cool. Gonna give it a shot! Believe it!"

So he decided to learn Fuinjutsu, and soon we had common lessons on the subject with Jiraiya. Jiraiya didn't want me in his lessons at first, the bastard. But Naruto vouched for me and used his bottomless knowledge of the female body to transform and get him to say yes.

I still shuddered at that thought.

I suppose the sannin wanted to spend time alone with his godson, and if not for it he wouldn't have bothered with any of us, so I forgave him.

Eventually, the old pervert started to enjoy my presence a bit more as I helped him a lot with his teaching of Naruto. Jiraiya gave advices to five clones, while I gave advice to five others. Sometime we switched so Jiraiya could correct my mistakes and I could give new ideas to the others.

The blonde learned very quickly, as fast as me I would say. He had more clones, okay, but I literally ate a book and had 100 INT and WIS, so that kind of evened things out.

I saw Tenten too once in a while, to get ink and scrolls. She started to give me discounts because of my 'fidelity'. We became friends. He wasn't a fan-girl over Sasuke or me - yes, some girls really started fan-girling on me after the dance at the Hyuga domain - and she wasn't part of clan either. That was good friendship.

Other than that, I didn't see anyone.

I didn't see Danzô or the Hokage. I suspected that the Hokage was protecting me from Danzô, as the latter didn't really make any move.. yet.

I didn't see Hinata-chan either, or any other Hyûga. I remember leaving their domain with Johny.

* * *

-Flashback-

* * *

" _Really? You have no idea what she could have seen in you to make her give up and leave?"_

" _Not the slightest." I lied._

" _Hmmm."_

 _Another pause. I had the decency of appearing uneasy under his gaze._

" _Do you have any idea who she is?"_

" _An enemy ninja? With some kind of invisible chakra?"_

" _No chakra is invisible to our all-seeing eye." He replied coldly. "We see everything."_

 _Johny chuckled a little at that._

" _Maybe she mistook me for someone she's trying to find?" I tried._

" _No." He replied categorically._

" _How could you be so sure?"_

" _She said she was searching for a ghost."_

* * *

-Flashback end-

* * *

Naturally, as soon as I had left the domain I started torturing Johny and made a few death threats to answer my questions.

So, to summarize:

Johny didn't know that someone let alone that "Ruri O' Brien" girl was searching for him. The " O' " thing being a mark of nobility by the way.

Since no one in this world could see or even _knew_ about Johny except me, I deduced that this girl came from the same world as Johny. How she came here I had no idea, nor how she found him, but she went for him and when she saw him with me tied to a mana rope, she just smiled and walked away. Did that mean she would leave him alone? Probably, since I didn't see her in this month of training.

Was she trusting me to keep him inoffensive? Maybe she was a _friend_ of Johny? Or… she's waiting to confront us when we're alone, perhaps.

… Even if she came after us, I was planning to just happily hand the annoying ghost over anyway.

Well, I figured that, since nobody came to us during this month even though we were alone quite a lot, she probably wasn't an immediate threat. For whatever reason, she left us alone.

Johny had made a lot of enemies in his world, he said, but he didn't know someone could travel to other universes. He theorized a lot of things about her identity, going from evil witch to "freakin' high mage". I tried to get more out of him but he started yelling that he didn't "fuckin' know" everything about his world.

In the end, Johny didn't really remember anything aside from possible angels purifying evil or some religious bullshit like that. I could tell now when he was lying. His ghostly body would always puff up and his color would turn a bit darker.

* * *

I finally arrived in front of the entrance for fighters.

"Just in time." I smiled to the guards, who motioned me to enter.

I walked in, and I was going to emerge inside the fighting area when I heard a scream behind me.

"Huh?" I turned, slightly on edge.

"Aaaaahh nononononononoooo!"

"Naruto?" I raised my eyebrows. A dozen Naruto clones were running towards the building.

They stopped in the entrance, trying to enter and blocking each other's way, but they were too numerous to get inside the tunnel. There were so many Narutos, they were falling on each other, insulting their comrades and pushing everyone. They were in complete panic.

As I quickly activated my eyes to search for the source of this mess, I realized that for some mysterious reason they were chased by an army of angry bulls.

"Oh boy..." I grinned and entered the arena, running towards the participants and the examiner who noticed me.

 _Boom!_

"Oooh!" The public shouted in surprise.

The cows crashed in and the original Naruto was thrown inside the area, sliding on the ground before finally stopping to my left side.

"..."

"..."

"… You just had to make an entrance, didn't you?" I grinned as I tended my hand to help him stand up.

"Ugh…There's no time!" He stood up and raised his arms in panic. "Everyone, run! All the bulls of the village… They're going to charge us!"

"…" Everyone stared at us.

"Remind me how come you're friends with him again?" Johny ironically asked, but I ignored him. During this month, I had learned to not give a fuck about his snarky comments.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru mumbled.

"Indeed." I sighed as I placed myself to his side. "Sasuke's not here yet?" I questioned Naruto.

"Dunno." He mumbled, turning his head around to search him, and pouting, since nobody had taken him seriously.

"Hey Kurota!" Tenten greeted me, waving her hand to my direction.

"Morning, Tenten." I nodded back to her.

"Hey, stop looking around. Face the customers. In the main tournament, you guys are the stars." The examiner told us, showing the crowd.

"Woa..." Naruto gawked.

We didn't even start, and the public was already cheering us from the tribune. I could see different people in the crowd, like Lee seated next to Sakura and Ino or little Hanabi sitting with her father. Hinata-chan was sitting with Kiba on the other side. There were also the Jônins responsible of our teams, except Kakashi, who must be somewhere with Sasuke. Mom was there, but Dad was on patrolling duty.

For some reason, Johny kept looking towards Sakura's group.

Eventually, the Kazekage entered and sat by the Hokage's side.

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Rasa**

They greeted each other. I couldn't hear them from where I was.

At this moment, the Hokage stood up and yelled:

"Thanks everyone for coming to the hidden leaf chûnin exam! We will now start the main tournament matches between the 8 participants who made it through the preliminaries. Please stay and watch until the end!"

The public acclaimed him. I noticed Temari staring at me, her eyes narrowed, and after a second I gave her a taunting smirk.

Couldn't I get to be a little cocky now that I was more powerful?

"Hey, hey!" Naruto raised his hand. "Sasuke isn't there yet, what are you gonna do?"

"If he doesn't appear by the time of his match, he will receive a default loss." The examiner, Genma Shiranui, answered.

 _'Well, good for Tenten.'_ I thought as I eyed her. She was on the other side, with a confused expression.

"Alright guys, this is the final test." The examiner declared. "The area is different but the rules are the same as in the prelims, there are none. You fight until one of you dies or acknowledges defeat. But if I determine that the fight is over, I'll step in and stop it, you got that?"

Everyone stayed quiet. he seemed to take that as a yes.

"Now the first match… Kurota… and Temari. Those two stay here while the rest of you go to the waiting room."

Everyone left us and I turned to the Suna girl. She was already facing me.

The public became gradually quiet anticipating the fight. As I examined my opponent, I noticed she seemed quite … off. She looked at her team, and I saw Gaara glaring at us from the tribune. She gulped.

Was she scared of her brother?

"Now, the first match! Begin!" The examiner, shouted.

Temari immediately deployed her fan and started to increase the distance between us, figuring she needed to keep her distances from me. Damn, that fight with Lee really impressed everyone; now people think I'm a beast at Taijutsu while it's actually my weak point. Or maybe I should say my less strong point.

I rapidly made a few hand seals in anticipation, guessing what she was about to do. Already, she shouted:

"Ninpou, Kamaitachi No Jutsu!"

She waved her giant fan, creating many air currents colliding and coming towards me.

"Katon: Gōkakyū No Jutsu!"

I greeted her attack with a giant fireball, that grew larger because I amplified it with Fire and Air manipulation with my elementals. It grew even bigger when it impacted with Temari's attack, taking nearly a quarter of the arena.

 _Boom!_

I narrowed my eyes, which were now blue instead of the normal green ones, and turned to my opponent on the right ; she had performed a Kawarimi at the last moment to escape the fire. Of course, she avoided my gaze to not be caught in a Genjutsu.

"Your fan is useless against me." I stated as I drew my Ninjato from its sheath and flexed my legs.

I rushed her before she could answer, and tried to cut her side with a horizontal slash. She reacted quickly enough, parring the sword with her fan with only a hand, and before I could wave my blade again from an opposite angle, she performed a hand seal with her other hand to Kawarimi to the other side of the arena.

"Shit." I heard her swear from the distance, gritting her teeth.

I extracted my blade out of the wooden log it was in, and observed her behavior, interested. She was throwing glances at Gaara and me, alternatively. Eventually, she shook her head, and smirked at me. I smiled back at her, eyebrows raised and curious.

"Ninpou: Kamataichi No Jutsu!" She shouted.

"Again?" I groaned, but stayed wary. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

Again, the rather average fireball grew into a gigantic one.

"Kuchiyose..."

With my eyes, I could see her through the flames rapidly biting her thumb, and she wiped a blood line on her fan. I couldn't stop her, else I would be caught within my own flames.

"… Kirikiri mai!" She yelled and waved her weapon.

The fan whipped up a tempest and summoned… a weasel?

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Kamatari**

I gawked and widened my eyes when I saw the little animal literally riding the wind and cutting through the flames cleanly, even extinguishing them. I accelerated my mind for the next second.

 _'Kurota!'_ Aeris shouted, worried.

 _'I know.'_

* * *

 **Temari's POV**

* * *

"… Kirikiri mai!" I yelled and waved my fan towards the bastard.

Kamatari appeared during the attack, proceeded to cut everything in half like usual, and just before he reached Farasuke...

An explosion of smoke hid him. Kamatari instantly slashed the smoke, effectively dispersing it, but… He had disappeared.

"Huh…?" I said, confused. Kawarimi? No, I would have felt it. I would have sensed a shunshin too… Speed? He couldn't be _that_ fast…

I noticed something coming towards me from above. Quickly, I jumped backwards, and the thing exploded on the ground liberating a large cloud of smoke.

I waved my fan to disperse it, but then…

Farasuke rushed out of the cloud of smoke towards me at a speed few could hope to achieve at his age. Where the hell does he come from?! Unfortunately for him, I had already prepared my jutsu.

"Ninpou: Kamataichi No Jutsu!" I shouted again, unleashing the power of wind.

He tried to dodge, but we were too close. He took the attack completely, wind cutting his clothes and slicing his limbs. He was thrown several meters away, and already Kamatari was on him.

...He exploded in a cloud of smoke.

Something brutally hit the back of my neck.

* * *

 **Kurota's POV**

* * *

"Winner: Kurota Farasuke!"

The public immediately cheered and clapped, even though they didn't understand anything.

"Amazing!"

"A civilian born wins the finals!"

"Woooooh! You're truly youthfull, Kurota-san!"

"That was easier than I thought." I mused, watching Temari's body on the ground and not paying attention at Lee's cheer.

I had rapidly thrown a smoke bomb at my feet. Just before her summon sliced me in half, I created an Instant Dimension, made a shadow clone, and while he reappeared in the cloud of smoke made by a smoke bomb that I had thrown in the air, I simply reappeared in one of the trees behind her and sneaked onto her.

Kawarimi and Shunshin, while being relatively high-speed moves, were very easily traceable by even a low rank chunin. I had no doubts that that weasel, Kamatari his name was, would have been able to sense the location of my destination very easily and come directly after me.

[Id Create], however, was similar to late teleportation. I vanished, walked to where I wanted to reappear, and reappeared. It was incredibly overpowered against anyone who couldn't sense Instant Dimensions. In fact, it _was_ my strongest move.

The stretchers came to carry Temari to the infirmary. I'll keep an eye on Gaara, in case he wanted to kill her if she lost. I didn't like the look he has on his face.

I couldn't help but grin at my mother who was in the crowd, cheering for me. Surely my parents were going to ask how I did what I did, but that was okay.

I had already decided to tell them about my ability after the tournament. I couldn't possibly continue keeping secrets after this, and… they were my parents. My family. More than anyone else, they had the right to know.

My grin disappeared when I noticed Neji, Hinata-chan and her father watching me with their byakugan activated. Well, that was expected…

I sighed and jumped to the fighter's tribune.

"Hm…?" I noticed everyone staring at me differently.

Gaara's eyes screamed 'I will enjoy killing you slowly'.

Neji's eyes were narrowed, trying to analyze me.

Shikamaru's expression was surprised, frowning, and Tenten was confused too.

Out of everyone, however, it was Naruto who startled me the most.

He was looking at me like he would be looking at Sasuke after he performed an awesome move. His fists was trembling, and he was grinning with excitation. Our eyes connected, and I could almost hear him yell 'I'll kick your ass too!'. He wanted to prove himself.

"Looks like you made quite the impression." Johny remarked.

I shrugged, wondering since when I was promoted to rival in Naruto's mind, and sat near Tenten, who seemed to be the least annoying to deal with.

"Sasuke's still not here." I noted while I eyed Naruto and Shikamaru talking on the other side of the tribune.

"Yeah..." She sighed, as if it wasn't a good thing for her. "Apparently our match will be shifted to last position to give him more time to show up."

"You're ready to face him?" I asked.

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve." She smiled.

"Next match, Gaara and Shikamaru Nara. Please descend!" Genma called the following fighters.

Gaara performed a sand shunshin in the middle of the arena, and glared at Shikamaru with eyes injected with blood, his intent clear to everyone.

"Come. _Now._ "

"I give u-..." Shikamaru tried to say but he was pushed from behind.

"Come on, Shikamaru, kick his ass!" Naruto grinned after pushing him, waving his fists in the air.

Shikamaru fell from the tribune on the ground of the arena, and stayed lying down, gazing tiredly at the clouds in the sky.

"Aaah… Why me …? … Troublesome …"

* * *

 **A/N: Hey everyone. So I'm back. UK was great. I think I improved my english. Still need my beta though.  
**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Before summer, for the previous chapters, I admit I was writing them on the spot... Without really thinking about the plot, and future events that were going to occur. I planned just a few chapters ahead.**

 **Now, however, I have written a scenario. Just the big lines and no details,and I have yet to completely plan every thing in it. So I'll still improvise a bit, but hey, I'm not a pro at writing a story and I'm very lazy. A lot of my improvement in the latest chapters is due to my beta-reader. Despite that 'improvement' in writing skills _and_ English, I won't rewrite the story, I'm too lazy and it would take to much time.  
**

 **I'll also say that out of everything I've planned, I still have not decided on the pairing.**

 **Also, there's been comments - recent or old - on the slow pace of the story. Well, too bad this my fic, I do what I want. I actually thought I was doing things too fast on the progression of the story.  
**

 **I'll do the 'review replies' section next time.**

 **From now on this will get updated every 3/4 weeks. I still have my project IRL going on. As always, please don't hesitate to point out mistakes me and my beta would have missed! Thank you all for your support despite the hiatus!**


	42. Chapter 39

**A/N: I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

* * *

 **WARNING: This chapter wasn't beta-read. I hope you still enjoy.**

* * *

" … Why me… ? … Troublesome… "

I chuckled. Laziness stroke again…

"Stand up and get ready." Genma ordered to Shikamaru.

"…"

He did what he was told, brushing off some dust off his pants, and stared at Gaara with apprehension.

"Ready? Begin!"

Immediately Gaara pointed his hand to Shikamaru and sand moved towards him at full speed.

The Nara jumped away and started throwing shuriken to his opponent - to test his defenses I assumed - and the sand returned to his master to defend him.

 _I see…_ He saw it too at that time with Hinata.

– _-Flashback-_

 _At a point, Hinata ended up trapped in a corner…_

 _'He'll kill her' I realized, feeling again the killing intent, and that's when Kurenai and Hayate decided to step in. They jumped and went as fast as possible to Hinata, but at this rate, they were going be too late…_

 _I decided to throw a large amount of shurikens at Gaara. As the projectiles made their way to him, the sand that was going to kill Hinata retracted to protect his master. As I thought… he can't attack and protect himself at the same time with so little sand._

– _-Flashback end-_

As expected of him, he was observant and was able to cancel the sand attack by directly attacking the sand's master. However…

Gaara moved his sand again, forming a giant hand that rushed to Shikamaru. He dodged narrowly and began to run away to the shade of the wall.

"Why is he fleeing?" Tenten frowned beside me. "I get he doesn't stand a chance, but…"

"He can't afford to throw too much shuriken." I explained. "Gaara will always have sand, but Shikamaru will eventually run out of ammo… He needs to buy time and come up with a plan."

That, and I suspected he had a way to _make_ more sand.

"You think he has a chance?" She asked.

"He can't beat him." I stated, and she nodded. "But today is not about beating, it's about winning. Shikamaru is very smart."

"Huh..."

If he somehow found a way to make Genma disqualify Gaara, then he could maybe win the match, but even that seemed highly unlikely. The rules were ' _there are no rules_ ' after all.

"I'd be surprised if your friend come out of this alive." Johny commented quietly, watching the sand warily.

Shikamaru started throwing kunai this time; except strings were attached to it. Of course the thin wires were invisible to normal eyes.

"Shadow technique!"

Shikamaru's shadow extended from the shade of the wires and caught Gaara. If the Suna Genin was surprised, he didn't show it, completely unfazed.

"What is he doing! Does he pay attention?" Tenten exclaimed incredulously.

Eventually, the Nara's shadow completely embraced Gaara's.

"He's shaking..." I frowned. Even if he's unbeatable, letting Shikamaru's shadow embrace his own like that… That was cocky, even for Gaara.

"Shikamaru seems to have a hard time." Tenten said.

I shifted my gaze to the lazy guy, and found him shaking too, sweating and struggling with his hand seal.

"..."

Slowly, Gaara's hand rose again, like it was caught in some thick spider web.

"It's like his Jutsu isn't working…" Tenten said, awed.

"It _is_ not working." I confirmed, causing Johny to scoff.

"Of course not." He snorted, and I shot him a warning glare to make him quiet.

Shikamaru released his jutsu, panting. He must have realized it was useless. But if he couldn't even use his main technique there was no chance of victory left for him. Was there?

He dodged another wave sand and started throwing some other projectiles.

"It's no use." Tenten muttered, a little frustrated. She, too, would be powerless if Gaara could block all the projectiles thrown at him like that. "He won't win..."

"Look." I said, pointing to the trees. "He's setting something up."

He had created a bunshin that acting as decoy and was dodging the sand attacks while he was rapidly sneaking into a tree.

I narrowed my eyes and activated [World's True vision] to see through the leafs. Indeed, he was setting a trap - no,lots of them actually - and they seemed wire actionable. I glanced to his pocket, he had 10 kunai and 12 shuriken left, with some other wires and a explosive tags.

"There are explosive seals." I said to Tenten, who frowned.

"What is he hoping for?"

"Here it comes." I said, not convinced by his plan.

Shikamaru's bunshin suddenly stopped moving, letting the sand catch him.

The original threw an explosive kunai at Gaara, and then a shuriken to cut a wire, which activated the traps. Soon, several kunai with explosive seals were flying towards Gaara.

The first kunai arrived to the Suna genin who blocked it with little sand. He always seemed to keep a little sand around him to block attacks in emergency. When it exploded, he was blown a couple steps back by the force of the explosion, and naturally decided to focus all his sand on the defense.

However, all the kunai were coming from one direction only.

"Sand wall." He groaned pointing his hands towards the kunais.

"You're open!" Shikamaru appeared behind Gaara by performing a Kawarimi on a previously thrown kunai. He had got around him while he was focused on the bunshin.

"Shadow technique!" He yelled, while the explosive kunai exploded against the sand wall, creating temporary light and extending the wall's shadow to completely cover Gaara and meet Shikamaru's technique.

"Why!" Tenten stood up, alarmed. "It didn't work before, he's way too close."

"Unless his shadow technique works better the closer the target is." I frowned. Did he have enough chakra to maintain his jutsu? And what did he plan to do when he caught him?

Shikamaru was currently two meters away from Gaara. He had probably determined it was the maximum distance from Gaara in which the sand could act on his own to protect its master. Otherwise he had to move the sand himself by controlling it with his hands. Hands he couldn't move right now, due to Shikamaru's jutsu.

Still, he seemed to resist incredibly well, and soon the Nara was struggling to keep him immobile.

"That's not good." I muttered as I ran an [Observe] on Shikamaru.

* * *

 **CP: 81/4232**

* * *

"He's running out of chakra." I said.

"He-he can move!" Tenten gasped as we saw Gaara slowly raising his hand like before, whereas Shikamaru's grip on him weakened.

Shikamaru mirrored Gaara's movement, and I realized with horror that it was the Nara who couldn't move. "He's..." fucked? Screwed?

"Die. Sabaku Toori! " Gaara smirked and closed his hand brutally as if the shadow wasn't even there.

He could even cast jutsus?!

"I surrender! I surrender!" The poor genin yelled as he dispelled his technique with great difficulty and attempted to jump away.

"Shit!" I groaned as I threw a few shurikens as fast as possible towards Gaara. It was too late, I realized, the projectiles wouldn't make it in time.

 _'Quick, [Psychokinesis]!'_

I tried to stop the sand with psychic power alone, but somehow it didn't work. I heard Johny repress a small chuckle besides me, and...

 _Splash!_

A scream of pain.

A shocked clamor coming from the tribune.

A Jônin who arrived too late, cutting and dispersing the sand with a wind technique.

An arm completely pulverized.

"AAAAAHHH!"

It was too late… I just managed to push him out of the way enough with my [Psychokinesis] so that only his right arm got caught.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled, jumping in the arena, and I found myself doing the same.

I shot a glance at Gaara, who had let my shurikens bounce on his sand armor harmlessly. The guy had a hand on his eye, as if he had a headache.

"Shikamaru!" Asuma had rushed to his disciple, and knelt to his side while the rest of team 10 landed in the field. "Be strong, okay? The medics are coming."

"Shit..." I muttered from behind him as I read the Condition that appeared on the [Observe] window.

* * *

 **Condition : Amputated [Right Arm]**

 **Status Effects: Panic, Fear, Severe bleeding[Right Arm], Light chakra exhaustion, Broken Shoulder**

* * *

He was being strong. Biting his teeth, he kept himself from screaming while his eyes were clenched closed.

But he was still struggling madly against Asuma and the medics.

His two teammates arrived too, horrified.

I couldn't intervene. The medics were far more competent than me in Iryo Ninjutsu and more used to deal with this kind of situation than me. My [Mind Healing], even if I could cast it safely without being seen, could not get rid of a condition. Sure, it would probably suppress the bleeding, and maybe even heal the shoulder and get rid of the panic and fear, but nothing the Medic-nins couldn't accomplish themselves. To top it all, I had no soul stone to enhance the effects of my skill, as I had not farmed zombies.

 _'I am powerless. '_ I realized. _'I can't do anything to help him.'_

"Even with all your power, you're still ignorant." A certain ghost declared. "I had assumed you knew mana abilities were canceled by demonic power."

 _'That's why my [Psychokinesis] didn't work on his sand..'_ I realized. _'It's filled with his chakra. Demonic chakra.'_

I was going to have a little 'conversation' with Johny after the tournament.

The medics managed to calm the poor genin down with some morphine; he was soon taken away with his team to the infirmary.

Asuma stood up, glaring at Gaara, who was currently holding his head like he was having a headache.

"Why… Why… protect him..."

"He's my disciple." Asuma gritted his teeth, and went after his team.

"Why?! Why?! WE should be asking you that psycho! Why the hell did you do that!" Naruto yelled, clenching his fists.

Gaara seemed to recover from his headache, and stared him down almost immediately.

"He was weak. I don't care about you. I will kill all of you and give your blood to mother..." He stated with blood injected eyes.

That shut Naruto up for a few seconds. He began shaking like he was terrified. Did something happen between them?

He still opened his mouth though.

"You… You'll see! One of us is going to beat you and we'll get revenge!" He shouted, pointing his finger at him, and then gazed away…

… towards me.

"Of course he's talking about me." I groaned quietly, as Gaara shifted his gaze on me too. I noticed Johny suspiciously tensing up.

I scratched my head, wondering if I should say something. There was a moment of tension as I settled for silence, and then :

"Winner : Gaara." Genma finally said.

There was numerous mutters in the crowd as Gaara walked slowly to the exit of the arena under the stare of everyone.

Naruto was about to do an other stupid thing, I sensed it. He was flexing his legs to jump after Gaara, but I kept him from doing so.

"Don't." I just said, putting my hand on his shoulder just after appearing next to him. He just had the time to turn his head towards me and I noticed his eyes were now red. I shunshined us to the tribune.

"Don't do troublesome things." I advised, purposely using Shikamaru's favorite word. His eyes regained their blue color.

"That bastard..." He gritted his teeth, clenching his fists and shaking. "That monster..."

"The time will come." I just said and left him to go to Tenten, figuring he needed to be alone, but he put his hand on my arm.

"Kurota." I blinked, surprised he didn't use the 'Kuro' nickname. "You have to beat him. Kick his ass… and win! Or I'll do it myself."

"Will do," I nodded, and he let go of my arm.

Honestly, I had already planned to win. No need to tell me anything.

"Next match: Sasuke Uchiha vs Tenten !" The examiner called.

"He's still not here…" Tenten constated weakly, as I sat next to her. She seemed shaken by the turn of events but at the same time she was disappointed of Sasuke's absence.

"The Kages are talking." I remarked, pointing the two men with my chin. "You should still descend in the arena." I recommended.

"Yeah..." She accepted dejectedly.

"You know her?" Naruto asked me, watching Tenten jump down with an appreciative gaze. The blonde had followed me and had sat next to me. No doubt he was pleased that she wanted to win by fighting, and not because of her opponent's disqualification due to lateness.

"I bought her some Fuinjutsu material and weapons," I answered. "She owns a shop not too far away from my family's… I recommend it, she accepts everyone."

 _'Even you.'_ went unsaid but he understood all the same.

"Yeah…" He fell quiet after that, still thinking about Shikamaru I supposed.

Shikamaru getting his arm pulverized had surprised me. Shocked? Afraid? Not in the slightest, not with [Gamer's Mind]. It made me sad, and a bit angry but did I feel rage, or a need for revenge? Not at all.

The fact that, had I not done anything, he would have simply died, his entire body crushed by the sand jutsu, made me a lot more aware of Gaara though.

I noticed Naruto frowning at me, but paid it no mind.

"You know," Johny said, "You're a bit heartless for a twelve-year-old brat."

I sighed. Somehow, Aeris and Brun sensed my emotions and hugged my arm. I blushed, embarrassed, and waved them away as Naruto threw me a weird gaze.

Come to think of it, why is it [Gamer's Mind] was deleting rage, and shock, but not this damn blush? Or embarrassment? Did it depend on the situation?

"Attention please!" Genma called to the tribune, which was beginning to become agitated. "Due to one of the contestant's lateness, we have decided to switch the third and the fourth match!"

"Heh," I smiled and punched Naruto lightly on his shoulder, trying to cheer him up. "Looks like it's your turn."

"Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyûga! Please come down."

"It's finally my turn..."

Normally he would have jumped in joy with his competitive spirit, but he was still affected by Shikamaru's match. It made me a bit worried that it would influence his match in one way or another.

Just after he jumped down in the arena, Tenten came back and sat back next to me.

"No fight for me yet,"She sighed. "You think he has a chance?"

"Against Neji? What do you think?" I asked her.

"No way he can beat Neji." She smiled confidently.

"Let's see." I just said, curious myself.

"Begin!"

* * *

 **A/N: Let's just skip a bit of this. You all now how it goes.**

* * *

"Hehe..." Tenten giggled.

"What was that?" I asked, interested in the peculiar technique I just witnessed. Naruto had finally managed to caught him off-guard with one of his clones but Neji blew them away.

"Neji's sphere of vision with the byakugan is nearly 360 degrees," she explained, smiling proudly. "He can basically see all around himself… and can sense all his opponent's attack."

"Uhuh..." I hummed, listening.

"From there," she continued, "Neji's defense system, 'hakkeshou kaiten', begins. Right before the attack lands, he releases a large amount of chakra from the chakra openings through his body. This stops the enemy's attack."

"… Really? Just like that?"

"… No. He then spins his body like a top and blasts the attacks away!" She whispered excitingly. "Normally, control of the chakra from the chakra openings of the skin is difficult, even a Jonin can only release chakra from his hand or leg, only one part of his body while doing a technique..."

I had large doubts about that, but said nothing, not wanting to interrupt her in her teacher mode.

"… but with Neji, who has mastered the gentle fist style, he can release chakra from all his body, and knock away physical attacks just like that. You could say it has defensive power that surpasses Gaara's..."

I stayed quiet again, not believing her on that point. Clearly she didn't know about the sand armor.

"… It's another absolute defense!" She finished, and looked at me expectantly.

"Right. Wow." I sighed. I had not activated my [World's True Vision] when he performed the technique so I didn't copy it.

"Hmph, just wait! It's not finished yet." She pouted, and we went back to looking the match.

Neji said something as he took a weird stance. We couldn't hear him with the distance. Naruto was still busy getting up, recovering from the Kaiten.

I decided to activate my eyes to better observe his next move.

What happened next was not pretty.

Neji stroke increasingly rapidly each of Naruto's tenketsus.

"Two palms! Four palms! Eight Palms!" He shouted.

"Fast…" I muttered, watching as Neji accelerated by a factor two between each move. He was truly a genius.

"Sixteen palms! Thirty-two palms! Sixty-four palms !"

It seemed like Naruto's body was hit by each of the thirty-two final strikes simultaneously, and he was sent flying meters away.

"Guh..." Naruto groaned as he landed painfully.

 _Ping! Ping! Ping!_

* * *

 **Through continuous observing** **with [World's True Vision]** **, the skill** **s** **[** **Gentle Fist Style Taijutsu** **]** **and** **[Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty Four palms** **]** **w** **ere** **created.**

* * *

 **[ **Gentle Fist Style Taijutsu** (Passive & Active) LV8 EXP: 46.1%]**

 **A** **form of hand-to-hand combat used by members of the** **Hyûga Clan.** **It inflicts internal damage through attacking the body's** **chakra pathway system,** **subsequently injuring organs** **that** **are closely intertwined with the area of the network which has been struck.**

 **You can only have one taijutsu style skill active at a time.**

 **Requires vision of the tenketsus and chakra pathway system.**

 **Passively increase DEX by 8%.**

 **Passively increase CKRC and VIT by 4%**

 ** **Additional** **4** **%** **increase** **in VIT** **and 8% in** **DEX** **while active.****

* * *

 **[Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty Four palms (Active) LV0 EXP: 0%]**

 **A** **dangerous technique that is appropriately handed down from father to only a single child within the Hyūga clan,** **a manoeuvre of the gentle fist taijutsu style. T** **he user envisions an Eight Trigrams circle. Then the enemy within this circle is hit with a series of violent blows. By striking sixty-four of the tenketsu** **s** **throughout the opponent's chakra pathway system their chakra flow is stopped, making them unable to even stand.**

 **Requires nearly 360° field of vision.**

 **Requires LV65 in the [** **Gentle Fist Style Taijutsu] skill.**

 **Requires 8** **5** **DEX and CKRC.**

 **Requires 60 STR.**

* * *

I closed the windows after reading them rapidly. Finally, another taijutsu style, that was going to help my physical stats a lot. Weird that the Gentle Fist started at level 8 though, but I could think of that later.

"Impressive..." I recognized.

"Told you." Tenten giggled next to me.

"Hmm… There are 361 tenketsus, he only closed 71 of them." I pointed out.

"In these 361 tenketsus, there are 64 of them that are crucial to the functionality of the chakra pathway system." Tenten explained again. "If you close all of those 64 points, you can't produce chakra anymore."

"I see." I nodded, and eventually admitted, "Well, I guess that's it then."

"Hmph." Tenten puffed up her chest and crossed her arms, looking smug.

How could he recover from that? There was no way, he could not use chakra anymore. He didn't have healing drugs or anything like that… He couldn't activate seals either without chakra, so Fuinjutsu was useless. He didn't know how to release the Kyûbi's chakra by himself either, much less control it.

Naruto stood up.

"Well, if Neji wants him to surrender then he's in for a surprise." I chuckled as Tenten laughed a little too.

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled suddenly, their voices carrying to us for the first time. "I… I do!"

They continued to talk a little between them, but we couldn't hear them from where we were. Suddenly Naruto yelled again:

"Insulting Hinata-chan, automatically deciding she's a loser!"

My fists clenched reflexively, and I stood up, approaching the guard-rail.

 _'Aeris.'_ I called.

 _'Done!'_ She replied cheerfully, and manipulated the air so that the sound of their conversation came to me.

"Main family… Branch family… I don't know what the hell happened… but pieces of shit like you who call other people losers, I'll never forgive!" Naruto yelled again.

"All right… If you're gonna go that far, I'll tell you." Neji declared with a low voice.

"You can hear them?" Tenten wondered. She had came with me and was trying to listen as well.

I shushed her. Normally she would have been able to hear them too, because she was standing next to me, but before I left the seats I had put her under a light genjutsu to keep her from hearing them.

It spoke volumes of my mastery of Genjutsu that I could now perform more complex illusions without handseal.

"The hyûga's destiny of hatred..." Neji began...

* * *

 **A/N: Let's skip a bit again.**

* * *

 _'Well, that was informative'_ I thought as I glared to the head of the Hyûga clan in the tribune, who was still focused on the fighters.

The Hyûga Clan had a shitty, unfair, and cruel family system.

Their family had a special Juinjutsu that's been passed down.

… Yes, you heard me. A Juinjutsu. As in, a curse seal, the specialty of Orochimaru.

In fact, it was on Neji's forehead, no longer hidden by his headband and now visible to all. He had received the curse when he was four, when Hinata-chan turned three, in fact. All the members of the branch family received it.

The curse was designed to destroy the mind of the branch family should they disobey the orders of the main family, and seal their byakugan at the moment of death. Horrible. If I had any doubts left over about consenting to an arranged marriage with Hinata-chan then all of them were just obliterated by this conversation. No way in hell I could be part of this kind of family.

Anyway. After Hinata's third birthday, Neji's father was sent to death, even though it should have been Hinata's father, the head of the clan. Hinata was kidnapped by the cloud country who had signed a piece treaty the day before. They were close to war, but Konoha wanted to avoid it, so they agreed to the deal the cloud village proposed: sending the head-clan's corpse.

But Neji's dad replaced it, being the head clan's twin… So he was killed by the main family and its body was sent to the cloud ninjas. It was disgusting.

I searched for Hinata in the public with my gaze, and our eyes met. She seemed sad, even though she probably couldn't hear anything… She quickly averted her eyes on the match again.

"Remind me to spat on the Hyûga Head clan's face next time I see him." I demanded to Johny, only half-joking. He smirked and nodded.

"What a bunch of primitives."

"H-Huh? You can't do that! Why?" Tenten said, panicked.

"A joke, Tenten."

So now Neji was completely misguided with ideas of fate and unavoidable destiny in his head. Suddenly his title, 'Jailed Bird' made horribly sense to me.

Quietly, I [Observe]d him.

* * *

 **Special Condition: Hyûga Curse Seal [Forehead]**

* * *

A condition… again. Not a status effect, or a special status effect. In other words, impossible to remove with [Mind Healing], nor with anything else. If I could find a way to heal a condition…

I thought back to Shikamaru's arm, to Hayate. Both under Conditions I couldn't cure.

I [Observe]d Naruto.

* * *

 **Special Condition: Jinchuuriki**

 **Special Status Effect: Shiki Fujin seal**

 **Status Effect: Tenketsus closed**

* * *

Was it possible… ? … To cure Conditions?

My eyes fell on the unknown status effect, and I casted Observe on it, out of curiosity.

* * *

 **Shiki Fujin: Fuinjutsu [Rank: Legendary]**

 **A seal developed by the Uzumaki clan to call upon the power of the Shinigami.**

 **It allows the summoner to sacrifice his soul to the Shinigami in order to remove the target's soul and seal it in the user's body.**

 **The seal on the summoner's stomach is similar in appearance to the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style.**

 **This seal in particular was performed by the Yondaime Hokage to seal the Kyûbi's Yang chakra into Naruto Uzumaki's body.**

* * *

My jaw dropped. The Shinigami?! It existed? Holy…

I was brought back to reality by Neji who had been beating Naruto up.

"You could never understand what it's like to be burdened with a symbol you could never rid yourself of!"

"..."

Oh shit, he did not just say that, did he?

"..."

"Yeah… I can..."

He was grinning, looking to smug for his own good.

"...And…? So what?"

My mouth opened, and I closed it. He was saying it was no big deal? After all he went through?

"Pft…! Stop acting cool… You're not the only one who's special." He grinned, blood coming out of his mouth and rolling to his chin, and clenching his stomach from the pain.

"Hmph. In the end, your destiny is decided."

"Shut up! Stop using your eyes to decide and act like you know everyone's destiny!"

"Then prove it to me."

"Yeah! I'm definitely going to defeat you!"

 _How? Your tenketsu are all closed, you're exhausted._

He made a handseal. "Aaaaaahhh!" He screamed.

 _Unless…_

"… Why do you go against fate so much?" Neji questioned.

 _Unless Jiraiya taught him how to use 'it'._

"Because I was called a loser!"

"… You're just like that Shikamaru guy. He, too, struggled against his already decided destiny. Look where that led him. He was a loser too."

That made Naruto snap and literally see red.

"AAAAHHHH!" He screamed again as he emitted red chakra from all his body.

 _The Kyuubi's chakra… Jiraiya, you're so reckless…_

"No way! Him too?!" Johny yelled, hiding behind me.

I shook my head, I couldn't believe it. Jiraiya… He was mad. What if Naruto couldn't control it and released the Kyûbi? That would be a disaster. Even if it's only half a Kyûbi!

Then again, the sannin's probably more knowledgeable than me and must have had good reasons. He had to.

"His tenkketsus have reopened!" Tenten shouted, shocked, and turned to me.

I was wearing my best, smug, eat-shitting grin just for her. She groaned, and refocused on the match.

Soon, nine chakra tales formed around the blonde and enveloped him, conferring him power.

"How dare you talk about him like that! Here I come!" He yelled.

* * *

 **A/N: Lets skip some things again.**

* * *

"Neji's 'kaiten' knocks away the oponent's chakra. By being the one who was advancing..."

"Naruto got his own power thrown back at him." I finished Tenten's sentence, observing the arena.

"Yeah… There is no genin that can defeat Neji." I turned my head towards her raising an eyebrow. She looked so smug, and was continuing, ignoring me, "But that fight was incredible… to push him this much."

"Hm." I crossed my arms, looking back to Neji who had come out of his hole, severely injured, but managing to stand up. "Well, the fight's not over yet." I smiled as I glanced at the other hole.

"W-what do you mean?"

"Loser," Neji said to Naruto, "Sorry, but this is reality."

The ground below him suddenly cracked and Naruto came out of the ground, landing a magnificent uppercut under Neji's chin. He had digged his way underground to Neji, while his clone's body hid the entrance of the tunnel he made.

"Kage Bunshin… In this situation? Your main Ninjutsu… How careless of me..." Neji stayed lying on the ground.

"I failed the academy graduation multiple times." Naruto said, "That's because, unlucky for me, the test on the final exam was always decided as my weakest Ninjutsu."

I recalled Naruto's poor attempts to pass the exam. Each time he did worse than me… And that was pretty hard to do.

"The bunshin… was my worst ninjutsu." He revealed to Neji, a pained expression on his face.

"Stop whining about destiny. You're not a loser like me."

"Heh… Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!" Genma called, seeming a little pleased.

There was a stunned silence, people not quite believing what they heard. Until, a single sound resonated in the arena. A few heads turned towards me.

I clapped my hands louder.

Tenten hesitantly joined me, followed by Sakura, who was in the crowd, and progressively everyone started applauding.

"That was great!"

"Incredible!"

"Great fight, shrimp!"

"Yay! Naruto won!"

I smiled at the sight of the blonde running around in circles, throwing kisses at the crowd while they cheered.

"Hehehe!" He laughed as he stopped and did the V sign with his hand.

He finally got recognition. Now if Sasuke would move his ass a little bit it would be perfect.

 _Poof!_

Speaking of the devil… Here they were.

"Sorry, we're late..." Kakashi chuckled. I rolled my eyes and cut Aeris's air technique and the genjutsu on Tenten.

She jumped in the arena to go to Neji's side, and also to be there for her next match. At this moment, I remarked something weird.

As Neji was carried away by the stretchers, his title was... bugged. It was twitching with pixels popping on the letters until eventually the title was completely hidden behind random pixels.

 _'Observe.'_

* * *

 **Title:**

* * *

The place where his title, 'Jailed Bird', should have been was oddly empty. There was nothing. A blank.

I frowned, and stood up, determined to learn more. I made my way to the infirmary, eyes still blue. Neji was apparently transported in a separate room than Shikamaru. Ino and Choji was by the Nara's side.

The Hyuga clan head had also come down and was speaking to Neji in the other room.

"So I'll remind you," Johny smirked, "You need to spat on his face."

"You can see through walls too?" I asked, turning my eyes to him. He seemed upset to have let that slip.

"Of course I can." He grumbled.

"We're going to have a nice little conversation after the tournament." I informed him sweetly, cracking my knuckles.

He stayed silent, and I shrugged, leaving the matter for later.

The two Hyûgas were byakugan users, so there was a chance they would notice me. I positioned myself near Shikamaru's room's door, and instructed Aeris to make Neji's and his uncle's voices carry to me while I still observed them. That way, if they noticed me, they'd assume I was taking news of Shikamaru's state.

"… -ully intended to die." Hioshi was saying.

I was a bit uncomfortable listening to them like that, but my eyes fell on the pixelized title again and my curiosity got the better of me.

So he basically explained to Neji that his dad volunteered to take his place, making his own choice by freely choosing his destiny after living a life of orders to the main family. Neji's dad had hated the main family, and that was why he made up his mind not as a member of the branch family, but as a brother. In his last moments, he had defied the Hyûga so called destiny.

In my mind, that didn't forgive anything, but apparently Neji thought otherwise.

"Please. Raise your head." He said, tear rolling on his cheek to his uncle, who had knelt down and was bowing to him, begging him to believe him.

He looked through the window towards the sky. No… towards a bird flying in the sky. The pixels on his title started fading away.

"Father… the birds are flying freely today. They look happy."

The pixels finally disappeared completely.

* * *

 **Freed Bird**

 **Lv39 Neji Hyuga**

* * *

His title changed… Of course... That was expected, nobody's personality or goal in life stayed the same. They could change, for the better or the worse.

What an interesting process it was to watch. For Naruto to cause a change in Neji's view of the world like that, that was just like him.

Hioshi stood up, smiled sadly, and left Neji alone, heading towards the door.

As quietly as possible, I hid in the closest room possible: Shikamaru's.

"Kurota?" Chôji remarked, tears in his eyes. "D-Don't you have a match?"

"Not yet." I answered, not able to meet his teary eyes. Instead, my eyes fell on Ino's face, who was trying not to cry on Shikamaru's bed. "Look, I… I'm sorry for Shikamaru."

"M-Me too." Ino sobbed.

I stayed quiet and approached the poor Nara. He was unconscious, drugged with morphine and chakra refilling pills. The medic-nins had stopped the bleeding.

* * *

 **Condition: Amputated[Right Arm]**

 **Status effect: Broken Shoulder**

* * *

Healing a condition… It seemed impossible. Was there a Chakra or Mind technique capable of regenerating an entire arm? Capable of removing a curse seal like Neji's or Sasuke's mark? Capable of healing Hayate?

Capable of freeing Naruto of the Kyûbi?

"No."

I turned to the source of the voice, a ghost.

"I know what you're thinking, brat. It's not possible. Restoring an arm… I never saw anything like that." Johny stated gravely. "I'm sorry." He added as if he just remembered to say that. "And shouldn't you head to your match?

I gritted my teeth. I didn't believe him, he knew nothing. Or he knew too much. If a power like The Gamer exist, why not regenerate an arm? There must be a way.

I glanced through the walls towards the arena. Tenten and Sasuke had begun fighting since quite a time now.

"I should go back to my match." I said to Ino and Chôji, who didn't respond.

Quietly, I headed to the door, but a hand stopped me by gripping my arm. I turned my head back, taking in Ino's crying face.

"W-Wait." She sniffed, and emptied her nose in a tissue. I waited patiently, not knowing what to do with crying girls.

"Y-you… You're going against… _him_?"

"Yes." I answered carefully. "After Sasuke's and Tenten's match."

"Look… Be… be careful. And, just…" She looked uncomfortable, and hesitated, before saying, "Make him suffer. Beat him up… And win." Ino requested, holding my hand in a familiar way. Her expression had changed again and was now filled with resentment. Next to her, Chôji was surprised at first, but that didn't last long.

"For Shikamaru. … Humiliate him!" Chôji nodded next to her, eyes filled with anger and sadness.

 _Ping!_

* * *

 **New quest!**

 **Quest: Versus Gaara.**

 **Win your match against Gaara, humiliate him and make him suffer.**

 **Completion reward: 10000XP, increased closeness with Ino, Naruto and Chôji**

 **Hidden bonus reward: ?**

 **Failure punishment: None**

* * *

"That's not..." I paused.

Could I really do that? Of course I could, I had the capabilities and with the [Gamer's Mind] I was going to be able to torture him easily without regret going in the way… But was that morally right?

I did feel bad for Shikamaru. But was it worth this much? Was I ready to make Gaara suffer, to make him pay for it?

"Why are you hesitating?" Johny frowned next to me, rolling his eyes. "You should kill him. Fucking demons."

"… not going to bring back his arm." I finally finished my sentence.

Choji started crying.

"I-I'm sorry... I'll definitely win." I declared tentatively.

Then again, Gaara _was_ a monster. And I liked to think that Shikamaru was my friend. Kinda. From far away.

"… For Shikamaru." I accepted finally, pushing the YES button, feeling like I was selling my soul to some demon - no pun intended. "I'll definitely win," I repeated, taking Ino's hand into mine and looking at her in the eyes. It was a painful sight. "... but I'm still not sure about the public torture slash humiliation thing. I'll... see what I can do?"

They nodded grimly, although they still had that angered determination filled with sadness in their gaze, and let me go.

During the way back, Johny was awfully nervous.

"What's up with you, Johny? You look like you will face a demon in a few minutes."

He scoffed.

"That's exactly what is going to happen!"

"Not really." I argued. "Only his prison."

"Brat…" I heard in his voice he quickly gave up. "Could you give me some more length with the rope? That way I'll stay high above the arena and won't get in your way."

"It'll cost me more MP though." I frowned.

"Aim pee...?" He repeated, confused.

"… Nothing." I sighed, rolling my eyes. I considered his demand. "Well, I suppose I can do that. It's not like I'll need too much mana in this fight."

"You never know against demons." He warned. "I'd watch my back around that blonde brat too if I were you."

"I told you, they're not demons. Or else they would be able to see you, right?"

"Correct." He confirmed reluctantly. "But I bet the blonde brat could have seen me when he used his demonic power. Did you see his eyes? They became fucking red!"

"That doesn't mean anything." I said, but inside I was worried. His eyes were red when I shunshined him back to the tribune to keep him from attacking Gaara. Did he see Johny? He didn't say anything...

"There you are!" Naruto greeted me as we arrived back in the tribune, "Where were you?"

I noticed Temari had come back to her senses and was standing with Naruto, obviously not wanting to be anywhere near Gaara after her defeat.

"Paying Shikamaru a visit." I answered, and turned to her. "You okay?"

"Hmph. Yes." She groaned, crisped.

"No hard feelings… Nothing personal." I raised my hands in a piece gesture. She shrugged and looked away.

"How is Shika?" Naruto asked, concerned.

"He's sleeping. Ino and Chôji are with him. He's..." I shook my head, and grimaced. "He will live."

"Oh. That's… good…." He said, glaring furiously at the responsible of Shikamaru's state who was at the other side ten feet away. Naruto's fists were clenched hard and there was even blood coming out of his hands, small drops hitting the floor.

"Sooo, how's the match going?" I asked, searching for a distraction.

"That Tenten girl is strong." He answered, looking back in the arena. "And Sasuke… well, he's Sasuke-teme."

Naruto and I approached the guard-rail, and I was able to take a closer look at the match. Temari left us alone, but still placed herself so that we were between her and Gaara.

The ground of the arena was filled with throwing weapons, such as kunai, shuriken, and various others. There were a few craters, reminiscent of explosive tags.

"She ran out of projectiles just when you came back." Naruto said. "Now Sasuke will get her for sure!"

Sasuke had a few cuts here and there, but was mostly uninjured.

Tenten was completely uninjured, albeit panting, and clearly tired. She had a long metallic bar in her hands as a weapon, a staff that was longer than she was tall.

They were wildly fighting each other in close combat, Sasuke fiercely attacking with incredible speed he did not possess a month ago, but Tenten somehow managed to keep up. They both had a small grin on their faces, clearly enjoying the match.

"Oh… I see." I smiled as I observed them fighting.

"What?" Naruto asked, clueless. "Sasuke-teme is so fast."

"Indeed. Naruto, didn't you remark something with his movements?"

"Uh..." He looked back to the fighters. "I think he doesn't fight like usual..."

"That's right." I grinned and turned to the public. "He copied Lee's taijutsu." I noticed Lee in the crowd was in awe, admiring Sasuke's genius. He still wore a small, knowing smirk on his face, however.

"Really?!" Naruto yelled, slamming his hands on the guard-rail. "Is that allowed?"

"Yeah. With the sharingan, he was able to memorize Lee's moves and perfectly copy them." I confirmed. "However… Tenten is Lee's teammate. It's very probable that she spent her month sparring against Lee. She knows all his moves."

"So, this is bad for Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"Pretty bad, yeah. You see, while the sharingan is able to copy taijutsu, it's still not as good as if you learned it by yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"Well..." I paused, searching for the right words. "He directly copied the taijutsu in his memory. To use it, he… let's say he 'activates' that particular memory. The moment he does that, his body moves on his own, replicating perfectly Lee's taijutsu… and that means he can't modify it or improvise around it. Not with only a month's time of training, anyway. So he can't make up new moves against her while he's using Lee's taijutsu, and that is _fatal_ for him, since Tenten knows Lee's moves nearly by heart and is used to fight him."

"Uhuh..." Naruto said, clearly not following me.

"I see." Temari commented from my left, having listened to me. I was glad someone understood what I was explaining.

"How do you know all that?" Naruto asked, amazed.

"[Observe]." I answered truthfully.

"He's smart though. He already noticed something." Temari nodded to the Uchiha.

In the arena, Sasuke was starting to notice something was wrong. Tenten was parring his attacks easily and even landed some mean blows with her metallic staff.

"If I'm right," I continued, as Sasuke tried to change his approach, and came back to his old taijutsu, "To achieve such speed, he must have trained only Lee's taijutsu during last month. So he's not used to moving so fast with his old, Uchiha taijutsu style. That means he will often overextend or lose control of his movements. No matter how much of a genius you are, if you stop practicing your taijutsu style, your moves won't be as precise as before."

Just as I said that, Sasuke brutally took the staff in his face, consequence of his not-so-coordinated attacks. He was blown several feet away, rolling on the ground.

"Sasuke-teme! What are you doing! Don't you dare lose here!" Naruto yelled, waving his fists in the air.

He stood up, wiping the blood on his face. "Shut up, dobe." We heard him say loudly to Naruto.

"What's that?" Tenten taunted. "Come at me, handsome!"

Sasuke said nothing, gritting his teeth. He began observing his enemy, his gaze falling on her metallic staff. A small, very Uchiha-ish smirk formed on his face.

"If you don't come at me," Tenten smirked and flexed her legs while Sasuke performed some hand-seals, "I'll come at you!"

While she rushed to him, the Uchiha gripped his left wrist with his right hand, pointing it to the ground.

He jumped back to gain some distance, and then his left hand began to be cloaked in wild electricity.

"No way," I muttered, surprised. "He trained raiton chakra transformation on top of Lee's taijutsu? No… Impossible. He must have copied it from someone else."

He looked up to Tenten, who stopped in her course, surprised by the electricity.

 _Chichichi… Chichichi..._

He started rushing at high speed to Tenten, who gripped her staff, eyes narrowed.

She raised her staff and waved it to meet Sasuke's face.

Sasuke ducked below it, and just before it came back to hit him, he caught it.

With his left hand.

Immediately, the electricity traveled along the metallic staff, Sasuke pouring more lightning chakra in it, and Tenten was electrocuted.

"Hyaaaah!" She screamed and let go of her staff, her senses overwhelmed by the pain. Before she knew it, her weapon was turned against her and the staff brutally hit the side of her head.

"Geez… What a gentleman." I groaned, Naruto and I wincing at the blow. That didn't knock her out, but she definitely couldn't stand up after that one.

"You're one to talk." Temari snorted.

"I… I give up." Tenten managed to say in a daze.

"Winner: Sasuke Uchiha!" Genma called.

Sasuke jumped back in the tribune as the crowd was applauding him, smirking at everyone, and then turned to Naruto.

"Looks like we'll get our match, Dobe." He said, still smirking.

"Bring it on, Teme!" Naruto yelled, already ready.

"Next Match: Kurota Vs Gaara. Please come down!" Genma called.

"Ah, but Kuro fights the psycho first… Avenge Shika!" Naruto shouted, turning to me, expression suddenly filled with anger and sadness.

"Yeah, yeah." I agreed easily, making Naruto frown at me.

"Something happened during Gaara's first match?" Sasuke asked, interested.

"He… He… he pulverized Shika's arm!" Naruto shouted angrily, pointing his finger at Gaara who was already down in the arena, he had performed a sand shunshin.

"You bastard! Kuro will make you suffer!"

"Woah..." I groaned.

Naruto wanted someone to suffer? That wasn't not very... Naruto-ish, if I could say that.

"Kurota Farasuke! Please come down." Genma called me again, and I stared at him, pouting.

"Come. _Now._ " Gaara groaned, his eyes filled with blood thirst.

I stood up and yawned lazily, taking my time to infuriate the monster.

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

"Good luck." Sasuke nodded to me as I passed him.

"Beat him up, Kuro!" I heard Naruto's last cheer.

And thus I started to walk down… through the stairs.

If I could anger him by forcing him to wait, well, let's do that. Ino and Choji asked me to make him suffer, and he's definitely suffering the wait.

"Brat. The rope." Johny reminded me on the way.

"Oh yeah." I gripped the mana rope and extended it to thirty meters. "Wait a second..." I paused, as I finally understood his plan. "You sly bastard. You wanted the rope to be destroyed by Gaara's sand, right? Demonic chakra neutralizes mana abilities, including my [Mana Rope]. Very clever… Hmmm..."

"Ahahah… I'd never do that..."

"[ID Create]" I said, opening an Instant Dimension.

"Brun." I turned to the fire elemental.

 _'Yes?'_

While I was still walking, I took out a scroll from my inventory, bit my thumb, and slammed it on the scroll, pouring fire chakra in it.

 _Poof!_

Brun appeared above the scroll, his body entirely made of fire.

Yes, I had made a summoning scroll during last month with the help of Jiraiya and Naruto, who had thought it as just an exercise. So now I could summon my elementals in their physical form. I had also discovered that I could use less chakra than necessary to summon them in a smaller form, resulting in a lower MP consumption and power. So the Brun I had summoned was ten centimeters tall, like Johny.

It functioned like Naruto and Jiraiya's toads. The more chakra you poured into the scroll, the bigger the summoned being was. I had yet to add the blood signature ritual thing though, so I still needed the scroll on me.

I had considered making a clone to hold the mana rope, but that would have cut my chakra in half, and would have definitely be detected.

"You will hold the rope." I smiled to Brun.

"Okay!"He agreed instantly, and snatched the rope from my hands. I raised my eyebrows, surprised. He instantly began to 'play' with Johny.

"Brat! No… Don't you dare leave me alone!" He begged as he was being tied up.

"You're not alone!" I grinned happily.

"BRAT! NOOOO-" He yelled but I quit the Instant Dimension.

 _'Aeris you stay with me.'_ I said mentally.

 _'Uuuuu… Okay.'_ She pouted.

 _'What's wrong?'_

 _'I wanted to play toooooo...'_

 _'Don't worry I'll summon you too some time after the tournament. You'll play with Johny later.'_ I promised as I finally entered the arena through the door.

 _'Yay!'_

"About time!" Someone yelled in the crowd.

Of course, the public - and Gaara - were angry that I kept them waiting. That's okay though, mental torture was a suffering in its own right. I was going to use anything to annoy him..

"Ready? Be-"

"Wait-wait-wait." I cut Genma. "I'm not ready."

"Pardon?" He groaned, and I started to do some stretching exercises. The examiner stared at me, not sure what he was seeing.

"Will you begin the match already!" Someone shouted in the crowd.

I shot a glance at Gaara. He looked incredibly pissed, I wouldn't be surprised if he started hyperventilating from all this anger and blood-lust.

"Begin the match. Or I'll kill him now." The psycho stated, face contorted in rage and killing intent. "Sorry mother… It's coming..." He added in a mutter.

"All right." Genma nodded. "Be-"

I cut him again. "Can I jog a few laps before beginning? I'm sure it'd help me to warm u- Whoa!"

Gaara had finally ran out of patience and had sent a sand hand at me that I dodged effortlessly to the right.

"Sabaku Toori!" Gaara immediately used his favorite jutsu, with the intent to kill.

I glanced at Genma, who was not interrupting the match. All right then.

I started jogging laps around the arena, while I dodged, avoided, or side-stepped happily the sand attacks.

"Come back here..." Gaara groaned, his pupils disgustingly nearly moving to the back of his orbits before coming back wildly. The rage and bloodlust was clearly felt all the way to the crowd. "Stop running... Sabaku Toori. Sabaku Toori!"

"Just a second. First I need to warm up!" I winked at him and proceeded to continue to jog laps of the arena by running near the wall for the next five minutes.

"Raaah! Sand wall!" He yelled, actually using his brain for another approach.

The sand began forming a wall about ten feet from me, making it impossible to continue the jogging in piece. Jeez.

I didn't stop. I jumped above it.

"Kuro!" I heard Naruto yell, but paid him no attention. The sand of the wall shot up and crushed me.

However, my body dissolved in a swarm of multicolored butterflies, and the real me became visible again, simply running below the sand that had risen and passing the obstacle.

"Sand shuriken!" Gaara shouted in rage, and I returned to my graceful dodging.

It continued like that for a moment, until he eventually ceased his attacks.

I stopped running, and turned to Gaara.

"Eeh, you stopped?" I pouted.

"Sabaku Toori!"

"Ah, thanks, Saharah." I nodded, jumped out of the way and returned to my jog, smiling.

"It's Gaara! Die!"

I sensed Ino and Chôji's chakra signatures in the public, watching. I wondered what Mom must be thinking.

"Phew," I fake panted, stopping the jog, and bowed my head while gripping my side, the action allowing me to dodge narrowly some sand shurikens. "That was good warm up."

I jumped back in front of him, still dodging and avoiding the sand, showing off my [Refined Flawless Movement] skill.

"I think I'll do some meditation, I'm not quite ready yet." I smiled to him as I would to a good friend.

"SHUT UP! Fight back. Come fight me and stop fleeing or I'll kill you!" He shouted again, still waving his hands to try to catch me with his hand.

"But I can't!" I whined.

"What?" He barked.

"The examiner didn't tell us to begin yet!" I pouted innocently.

There was a pause in the ambiance, everyone realizing that was actually true.

"You!" Gaara turned to the examiner, "Start the match properly. Or I'll kill."

"Tch." Genma groaned and looked at me, annoyed that I was actually starting meditation, eyes closed. He returned his gaze to the Jinchuuriki. "Disrespect me again and you're disqualified. Begin!"

"Sabaku Toori!" Gaara used his jutsu again. The sand came to me and crushed me.

"Kurota!" Naruto yelled.

My body dissolved again in multiples butterflies of various colours, and I appeared in the air above Gaara.

"Die!" He yelled again, pointing his hand to the sky.

I landed on his sand, which quickly crushed me again, but then my body dissolved in butterflies once more.

"I'm here." I warned from behind him before kicking him hard in his back and sending him to crash in a tree. There was an odd resistance to his body.

I shrugged internally, deciding to focus on the fight. Probably his sand armor. Gaara had stood up and begun walking towards me. Did he have better control on his sand the closer it was to him?

"Sabaku Toori!"

"How original."

I dashed forward, jumped over the sand, ducked under an other strike elegantly, side-stepped another and rushed to Gaara, clearly faster than his sand could react. Now that the majority of his sand was behind me, it would be easy to break his defenses. I feinted a front strike, the little sand he had left immediately shielding Gaara as he took a step back, but I vanished in a burst of speed and reappeared behind him, to land a good old straight punch to the back of his head.

My fist met his head with a lot more resistance than I expected from his sand armor, but he was still thrown at the other side of the arena and hit the wall painfully, leaving a crack on it. He had cracks on his face too.

"You amputated Shikamaru." I said to him as I watched his sand return to him to adapt a more defensive approach, and his armor repair itself. "His sensei isn't happy about it. His team isn't happy about it. Naruto isn't happy about it."

I paused to let him the time to stand up.

"And I, along with -I hope- some of the Konoha citizens, are not happy about it. Even if we are not as affected as his family and closer friends." I continued, and remarked he looked like he didn't understand a single word I was saying.

Nobody was laughing anymore.

"So now you will pay for that." I stated to him, a simple fact.

"I will kill all of you..." He whispered madly.

"You will lose..." I replied.

I suddenly disappeared in an other burst of speed and reappeared behind him, paused to let the sand the time to react and shield him. I vanished again to rush his side that was left exposed by his sand, throwing a wide, lateral kick to the side of his head.

"… badly." I finished as I observed him flying through the arena and through a tree, effectively destroying it, and hit the wall hard.

I watched him stand up again.

"But before that I will humiliate you in front of all this crowd." I smirked cruelly.

Now, let's be clear. Inside I wasn't smirking. A part of me wanted to vomit just by hearing those words, but, in a world of ninja, there was no place for mercy. And that was okay anyway, [Gamer's Mind] deleted the awful feeling I had while doing this.

This was just a petty, egoistic revenge that I carried out for Ino and Chôji. What was the evil in me doing this? Everyone agreed with me, he completely, totally, deserved it. He was a mad, crazy psychopath. People wanted someone to do it. I had the power, and the mindset, thanks to [Gamer's Mind], to do it, contrary to other people (Sasuke) who could get consumed by their desire of vengeance. Even his own team, judging by Temari's behavior, probably were okay with what was happening. No one was going to regret that I taught him a lesson. So I just did it.

As a ninja, I would eventually be asked to do this kind of thing. Hurting people and killing, even though I won't like it. Far away in a corner of my mind, I thought a treacherous, horrible part of me just considered all this as an other training, an other thing to grind.

' _But now_ _i_ _s not the time to think about that.'_ I thought as I watched the sand move towards me slowly through my [Accelerated Mind].

I dashed away.

"Sabaku Toori! Sabaku Toori!"

"I will start with that armor of yours. Sasuke's not the only one who copied Lee's movements."

 _'Celestial gate, open. Gate one, the gate of pain!'_

I disappeared again, in a burst of speed that left a small wind behind me, and landed a kick under his chin, throwing him in the air.

 _'Lotus, Verso.'_

I jumped to position myself just behind him as he was still in the air, and wrapped my arms around him before beginning to spin fast towards the ground. Just before the impact, I jumped away.

"There goes that armor of yours." I stated. I felt a little exhausted after the use of a celestial gate.

The thing was, I could heal myself any time if I wanted to wash away all the fatigue. That was the power of [Mind's Healing]. I just didn't, to train my vitality. And also because it emits a weird green light when I cast the skill. I could mask it with genjutsu, but byakugans/sharingans could still see through it.

"You will see. I will kill all of you!" He groaned as he stood up once again. His armor was nearly completely destroyed. "I will give your blood to mother..."

He performed a series of handseals, and I let him do what he wanted, using a tree to rest my back and crossing my arms.

His humiliation will be even more consistent if his trump card failed miserably.

 _Why am I doing this again?_ I thought tiredly.

[Gamer's Mind] kicked in and swallowed all the guilt that was making me doubt what I was doing.

Slowly, his sand gathered around him to form a perfect sphere. Shortly after, an eye made of sand appeared above it.

"That's it?" I taunted. "Too afraid to attack me now?"

"Tiger, Monkey..." I heard his muffled voice from inside the sphere.

 _'[Observe]'_ I thought as I eyed the sand sphere.

* * *

 **Sand sphere**

 **Gaara's absolute defense, he uses it to set up his transformation into Shukaku, the sand demon, the one tailed bijuu. The sand sphere can attack anything nearby by forming hard spikes, and detects the enemy position if coupled with a sand eye above the sphere. It is very difficult to pierce through, as it is inducted with Demonic Chakra.**

* * *

Oh, shit. I guessed I couldn't let him do that.

 _What a psycho… If he awakens Ichibi…_

[Gamer's Mind] did its work, suppressing the scary feeling of the thought. Not sure if that was good or not.

"If you're not coming, I'll come to you." I said before dashing to him. I predicted the spikes attacks with my blue eyes, seeing the gathering of chakra in the sand and easily avoiding them, and punched it hard to test it.

'It's really strong…' I mused as I jumped back again before other spikes attacked me. My hand was not bloody, and my [Mana Armor] had vanished around my fist, effectively dissolved by the demonic chakra.

"Unlucky for you, I'm a Futon user." I sighed as I took out a scroll, from which I summoned a long katana that I had bought at Tenten's shop.

The Ninjato didn't suit the situation. Too short. In this case, I needed a weapon with a longer range so I can pierce through the sand all the way to his body.

I concentrated Wind Chakra in it, focusing on the blade to make it as sharp as possible. The range also extended, resulting in an incredibly long blade.

I gauged my target who was at the other side of the arena. Should I pierce? Just cut through? I could cut one of his arms off if I wanted, but…

[Gamer's mind] killed any emotion of disgust I felt towards the thought.

An eye for an eye?

 _No ! No, I won't do that._

I shook my head. This was a limit that I wasn't going to pass. Why was the [Gamer's Mind] so active? Why does it…. _want_ me to make Gaara suffer so much?

I shook my head, dismissing the question for later, and analyzed him with my vision. I charged forward, katana held in my two hands.

 _Slash!_

"GRRAAAAAAHH! IT HURTS!" Gaara roared. "Blood… My blood? GYAAAAHH! MOTHER, WHERE ARE YOU!"

I jumped back, extracting my katana from the sand. I didn't cut his arm, I just pierced through his shoulder.

In truth the katana was not the best weapon either, considering I needed pure piercing power. The best would have been a spear, or something like that, but I didn't buy one. Not enough money.

"Oh please. It's just a small wound to your left shoulder. Wait until I do the other one -"

 _Slash!_

"….Annnnd done."

"GAAAAAHHH! WHY MOTHER? WHY DOES IT HURT SO MUCH?"

"I could tell you a lot of things about your mother, but I'll stay polite." I said.

I arched an eyebrow as the sand began to mend on the ground, revealing Gaara's injured shoulder. For a second, I saw his eyes reverting back to their normal colors, they were filled with anger, pain, and incomprehension. For a moment, I felt pity towards him, but it was promptly neutralized by [Gamer's Mind].

I shook my head, deciding to think about [Gamer's Mind] over-activity later.

I sealed my katana away, and performed another technique.

"This is a chakra scalpel." I said, showing off the small blue blade to the mad suna genin as I casually dodged his sand shurikens. I had learned this skill during last month, and now that I think about it, it must be because of this skill that the [Gentle Fist] skill started with some XP. The two skills were really similar.

"After I get rid of your sand armor again, I'll cut various parts of your body, I don't know much about the human anatomy but I at least know where it hurts – the nerves." I stared at him severely. In reality, I was worried by what I was doing.

 _I should stop._

[Gamer's Mind] took effect, promptly deleting my 'negative' emotions.

"Then I will close some tenketsus, just because I can..." I listed, putting up a show of counting on my hands. He would make a good target practice for the Gentle Fist. "Once you'll be out of chakra, I'll perform some more serious Genjutsu to make you revive these instants over and over again… and then… hmmm what to do?"

 _I'm not going to do that..._

Again, [Gamer's Mind] search in my head for the feeling of regret and hesitation and completely annihilated it. It was worrying me a lot.

I faked having a great idea. "I know! I'll put a nasty seal on you so you can't talk to your 'mother' again. You'll have to say goodbye to the Ichibi. Hmm? How's that?" I casually revealed his secret and made sure to make Aeris manipulate the air so that Naruto heard that. I threw a glance at him, his eyes had widened in recognition as he was staring at me with awe.

 _Don't look at me like that…_

The [Gamer's Mind] calmed me down.

"...I think I'm actually too kind, you won't have definitive damage - well, maybe not your mind, oh wait, you're already crazy anyway - but nothing like you did with Shikamaru whose arm you amputated. Am I right?" I asked a little louder and looked at the crowd in the tribune, as if asking them, while Gaara had fallen quiet.

They cheered… cheered me as I was playing with Gaara?

What pleasure did they take in this? Was everyone really… ?

Then again… It was the one of the point of this tournament, wasn't it? People came to enjoy a fight, a show. They didn't think someone could die, or get an arm amputated.

Just cheering.

Then I crossed Hinata's eyes.

Immediately, my shoulders slumped down. She had quickly gazed away, not wanting to meet my eyes.

Afraid… of me? Or of what I was doing?

[Gamer's Mind], again, suppressed my feeling of guilt and shame.

Even before I somehow obtained the Gamer's Power, I taught myself to ignore people's opinion of me. Well, let me tell you, this opinion in particular was very hard to ignore.

I needed to stop.

 _I'm stopping now. Enough of this. Fuck the quest._

Gaara didn't say anything, and I forced myself to face him again. Now of course I didn't want to do all that, I didn't take any pleasure. I'm not the psycho one here. I knew that. However… people, my friends, my family, didn't know that, and were probably not going to see it that way.

I absentmindedly dodged another Sabaku Toori, and rapidly ducked to slid on the ground below a sand hand.

Suddenly, I realized something. It hit me hard like a hammer on a nail, sinking me down. It was obvious, as clear as crystal now.

 _I don't want to be part of this, to hurt people. Not if I have this damn skill brain-washing me._

 _Why did I want to become a ninja in the first place?_ I thought as I started to dance around Gaara's sand.

I wanted to learn jutsus, spit fire out of my mouth like Dad and the awesome characters in video-games, and spar friendlily with friends to compare our strength. That was fun.

Using them on actual, real enemies, inflicting pain on these people and eventually killing?

That was less fun for me. Because I had the [Gamer's Mind] negating every intense feeling of regret or guilt I could have... If I went this way… I would quickly get used to it. With this skill, I could get used to committing every atrocity possible, and not feel any shame, regret, or guilt.

With every kill, the skill would make me less and less human, brain-washing me.

I could very easily become a monster, emotionless. That… That scared me. And that was why I suddenly thought becoming a ninja wasn't such a cool idea anymore.

Why was the [Gamer's Mind] so active? It's as if it wanted me to do everything I could to make humiliate Gaara, make him suffer and…

 _'The quest.'_ I realized as Gaara stopped attacking me to recuperate. It suppressed every feeling that was a hindrance towards the completion of the quest? There was no other explanation. It had never been so active before. Or maybe I didn't notice it?

 **Win your match against Gaara, humiliate him and make him suffer.**

It was clearly worded. 'Humiliate him and make suffer.'

 _Well, it stops now._

I prepared myself to take him out completely and cleanly to finally end it, but feathers suddenly started falling off the sky, making me pause.

Interesting genjutsu… but Gaara... didn't use genjutsu.

And then everything went to Hell. With a big H.

 **[Sense Bloodlust] 's level has risen by one!**

Reflexively, I turned to the Kages, only to find the Sandaime with a kunai on his neck.

Held by Orochimaru. Instantly, I sensed the monster's chakra flare rapidly after remaining hidden all this time.

The Kazekage had taken down his coat, revealing his war suit.

 _War suit._

 _Shit._

 _Ping!_

* * *

 **New quest: WAR: Help defend the village!**

 **Objective: Help defend the village and its civilians.**

 **Bonus objective : ?**

 **Bonus objective : ?**

 **Bonus objective : ?**

 **Bonus objective : ?**

 **Completion reward: 100,000 XP , ?**

 **Completion Failure: Konoha falls, ?**

 **Various other failure or reward events may happen if the Bonus objectives are not completed before the end of the quest.**

* * *

 **You can't deny this quest.**

* * *

"What… No!" I muttered, the quest automatically accepting itself and closing its window as I turned again to the Kazekage. He wore a determined expression on his face and had changed into his combat clothes.

In the tribunes, everything was clashing. The civilians and genins weak against genjutsu were sleeping, probably because of the feathers. Suna and Oto shinobis against Konoha… A wild battlefield.

In front of me, Kankuro and Temari landed next to their brother along with their team leader, a Jônin.

"This is bad," I listened Kankuro talking to his team as he observed Gaara's state. The Jinchuuriki was gripping his head and tearing off his hair with his hand. "He's already into an advance stage… We have to get him out of the village!"

"Mother… Yes, mother..." Gaara was still muttering madly. "I will bring you his blood..."

"You're not going anywhere." I warned, but an other team of Suna Jônin landed in front of me, each holding a wind blade. This would be hard to deal with, fortunately Kurenai and Kiba also landed next to me.

"Hinata?" I asked.

"Family." Kiba answered, and I nodded.

I healed myself with [Mind Healing] to get rid of fatigue while I observed their movements. It produced a green, strange light but I covered it with a genjutsu, I figured no byakugans or sharingans would be looking at me with all the shit happening around. I drew my Ninjato.

 _I need to take Gaara down… He's too dangerous._

"Evacuate the civilians." Kurenai ordered. "Let the Chunin and Jonin handle this."

"Gaara needs to be handled." I retorted. "I..."

 _'Kurota!'_ Aeris suddenly cut me by shouting mentally.

I shot a glance towards her, she had an incredibly worried and alarmed expression, and was pointing towards the tribune.

 _'Mom!'_ She urged me.

Suddenly I had an ominous feeling creeping up my chine. I turned rapidly my eyes to glanced in the direction Aeris was pointing at, an intense sense of dread filling me up. At the same time, I prepared myself to jump at any moment while keeping my guard up.

There! Mom was sleeping on the ground, and an Oto shinobi was next to her with a kunai on her throat, smirking to me. Did they specifically target her? Because of me?

I jumped to the tribune with full chakra enhanced speed and as much [Psyckokinesis] pushing my body as possible, leaving a small explosion behind me, as a feeling of horror filled me up. The enemy ninja already had his blade on her throat, he was already clenching his muscles, and my blue eyes predicted they were going to sli -

 _No!_

I kept his arm from moving further with [Psychokinesis] while I closed the distance in a fraction of second. [Gamer's Mind] crushed mercilessly any hesitation or doubts I could have and I spin my Ninjato which was enhanced with Futon chakra towards his neck…

I decapitated him.

* * *

 **A/N: Welp… Shit happened in this chapter.  
**

 **So this wasn't beta-read. My beta-reader doesn't answer me, I assume he can't access internet at the moment. Please point out the mistakes and eventual errors or typos, English is not my native language. Don't hesitate to give your ideas too. And I'll take any advice on fight scenes. I love reviews.  
**

 **And yes, some things didn't change from the manga, like Naruto vs Neji, I re-wrote them from Kurota's perspective.** **If I skipped the entire thing, people would complain that they didn't get Kurota's reaction, and if I wrote it like it was in the manga, people would complain that they already knew the fight. So I added a little length to the chapter to compensate ... It ended up being a lot longuer than the other chapters, over 11,000 words.  
**

 **Next chapter, probably coming at the end of december, because of exams and project, but you know how I am with release schedules...  
**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	43. Chapter 40

**I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.  
**

* * *

 **WARNING!** **This was NOT beta-read.** _ **Again**_ **. More infos after the chap.**

 **I hope you enjoy this regardless. Oh, and Happy New Year!  
**

* * *

My first kill.

Another man rushed to me, attempting to disarm me. I easily opened his guard with some telekinesis and I hesitated a fraction of second before I slashed his throat.

My second kill.

 _'Killing is easy.'_ I realized with a disturbing calm.

It was just a physical act. Did my victims have family? I could feel [Gamer's Mind] working furiously in my mind.

I parred several shurikens headed my way and sent a Katon jutsu to burn another enemy. I was in full combat mode right now, body filled with adrenaline.

"The hell is going on!" I coughed some smoke and shouted to Kakashi and Gai who were slaughtering the opponents in order to defend those asleep.

"Kurota! Sakura!" The pink haired girl had resisted the genjutsu and had been hiding behind me all this time. "Wake up the other genins. This is a rank A mission!"

I turned to her. "You know how to dispell the genjutsu?"

"Y-Yes!" She nodded immediately.

"Do it! I'll protect you."

She did what she was told. She was taking the situation remarkably well.

I took a moment to observe my surroundings. The Hokage was also trapped in a barrier, and I noticed that the suna team wasn't here anymore. a certain Uchiha was missing too.

"Where's Sasuke!" I shouted to Kakashi or Sakura, whatever.

"He went after the suna team!" Sakura yelled back as she dispelled Naruto's genjutsu. Soon he was waking up.

"What?! What's going on?" Naruto blinked confusedly, gazing at the battle around him.

"War is going on!" I said as I pushed back an enemy team who had chosen to team up against me.

Kakashi finished them before they could break my defense and landed in front of us.

"Change of plans, we don't have time! You three need to join Sasuke and pursue the Suna team. Kurota, you take command!"

"Sasuke went after the suna team?" Naruto echoed, searching for him.

"Yes," I said to Naruto, "and no, I'm not leaving!" I refused after turning to Kakashi, who didn't look pleased. I quickly explained myself to not waste any time. "My mother is still here," I pointed to her sleeping figure a few meters away. "I'm staying to protect her."

"Don't worry about that, we have the situation under control. We will protect the civilians agai-"

"Under control, my ass!" I snapped, making Sakura take a step back in fear. "An enemy ninja had his kunai on her throat for literally three seconds and you did nothing. Nothing!"

At this moment, another enemy team jumped to engage us, but suddenly a huge white fireball with a dragon shape ate them.

"Kurota." The owner of the jutsu spoke, a severe frown on his face. "That was an order, do what you're told. I'll protect her."

"Yeah…? You sure?" If it was Dad, I could trust him, right?

"Go!"

I saw him nod to Kakashi and he started fighting again.

"Shouldn't we wake up other people before..." Sakura started but Kakashi cut her.

"No, you have to act as a little team to have better speed and remain hidden, and we don't have time." He performed a few hand seals: "Kuchiyose! Take Pakkun with you. Now go!"

"… This little doggy?" She blinked, disbelieving.

The doggy in question jumped on the bench in front of her and groaned. 'Don't call me a cute little doggy."

"Golden Shurikens!" Someone shouted from where the Kages were.

Instantly, a rain of small golden shuriken fell on us.

"Futon, Daitoppa!" I yelled, along with Kakashi.

We blew away the projectiles, and watched the kazekage standing up on his throne, a frown on his face. He had an incredible amount of gold dust around him, similar to how gaara was manipulating his sand.

"You sure you'll be okay?" I yelled to the two Jonin again before I [Observe]d the gold dust and reported : "He's using Jiton to control his gold dust!"

 **(A/N: Jiton = Magnet release, a combination of Futon and Doton)**

"We know! We'll find a way." Gai assured.

"Now go!" Kakashi ordered, as he took off his mask, revealing his sharingan. "Do not waste time!"

"Let's go." I urged and took the dog by his neck's skin before we jumped on Sasuke's traces.

* * *

 **Later**

"Brat. Don't ever carry me like that again." The dog groaned as we were jumping from tree to tree. We were in the Konoha forest, following Sasuke's and the Suna team's smell.

"Whatever." I shrugged, behind him.

"So the village is under attack from Suna and Oto?" Naruto resumed, a worried expression on his face.

"Indeed." I confirmed calmly.

"And now we need to stop the Suna team?" He asked.

"Not exactly. We need to find Sasuke first." I corrected.

"That Teme… He's too anxious!" He scowled.

"I hope he's okay." Sakura commented worriedly.

"This way!" Pakkun barked, changing directions.

Suddenly, I had an idea.

"Kage Bunshin!" I made a clone and he immediately climbed onto my back.

"Uh, Kurota?" Sakura asked, confused.

"If I carry my clone, he can focus on his chakra sense and expand his sensing range." I explained to them. The skill mentioned if I used meditation, it could multiply the sensing range.

"Won't it slow us down?" Sakura frowned.

"Judge by yourself; we're still moving as fast as before." I replied, using some Psyckokinesis to help me carry him.

"A few signatures is separating from the mass to pursue us." My clone declared, eyes closed. "Twenty… No, twenty two. They'll be on us in a few minutes, from the right."

"What are we going to do?" Sakura panicked.

"We'll need to leave one of us behind to distract them, or at least slow them down until we reach Sasuke." I explained.

"I can send them clones." Naruto proposed.

"Uh… No, I'll send my clone." I denied. "No offense, but your clones probably wouldn't do much."

"And yours will?" He groaned, triggered.

"Yes. I'm not exhausted, you are. You just fought Neji." I reminded him, causing him to look a little sheepish. "You have to be careful with your chakra, or you'll have to use..." I glanced at Sakura, who was listening. "… Uh, you know. The red stuff."

"So what if I have to use it?" Naruto asked, pouting.

"It's very dangerous. I'm not sure what Jiraiya was thinking when he taught you that." I groaned.

"Wait… You were trained by Jiraya? The sannin?!" Sakura gasped, eyes wide.

"Yep!" The blonde grinned. "And I can summon toads now!"

"Wow, that's great, Naruto!" Sakura smiled, before looking down.

"Okay, let's stop here." I called. We stopped moving, and my clone got off my back.

"Make two clones, and transform one of them into Sakura." he instructed to Naruto, who nodded.

"They'll think it's us, but..." I smirked and took out a few pieces of paper as Naruto made his clones.

"Explosive tags!" Sakura recognized immediately.

"Home-made." I added proudly. I put fifteen on each of Naruto's clone, who swallowed nervously. "We'll ambush them."

"But… that will kill them." Sakura said.

"Yes." I nodded severely. "It will."

The pinkette gulped loudly.

"This is war. I suppose it doesn't make it okay, but we have to. It's them or us, and potentially other konoha ninjas." I explained. "Hesitation can lead to more casualties on our side, remember that."

Naruto opened his mouth, as if to protest, but he closed it, frowning."All right." He eventually said. "Let's do it!" and Sakura nodded next to him.

Good. They understood.

"Okay, let's go!" I ordered.

I made another bunshin to improve my sensing range, and we started moving again, jumping from tree to tree, leaving my clone and Naruto's clones behind.

"Sasuke is ahead… I smell three other people..." Pakku sniffed.

"He's fighting someone." My clone said. "The one with tatoos I think."

"All right!" Naruto yelled.

* * *

 **Meanwhile… Brun's POV, in the Instant Dimension  
**

* * *

Brun was having fun. The fire elemental was a little disappointed he couldn't watch Kuro's fight or help him, but on the other hand, Johny was being very funny today! He had already tried to escape three times since Kuro sent them in the Dimension.

"I'm telling you, Brun, the brat needs help! It's becoming nightmare outside and everyone is fighting each other. It's chaos! We can help him, together!"

Brun didn't know how he knew what was happening in the real world, but he was pretty sure Kuro could handle it. He was super-cool-awesome like that.

"And for the last time, DON'T DISFIGURE ME LIKE SOME SLIMY CLAY!"

Brun giggled. Johny's body was being super-funny again, like each time he got really angry, becoming yellowish and clay-like and slimy. Brun could make his face weird in these moments, he couldn't wait to share his new creations with Aeris!

"THATS IT!" The ghost yelled from his mouth, which was now between his nose and eyes. If you could call that a nose. "I'm going away! Catch me if you can!"

The ghost broke away from Brun's grasp, and the elemental laughed, delighted. He was still attached to him with Kuro's Mana Rope, and asked him to catch him? That meant he wanted to really play a game for the first time!

He let out a few excited cracks from his flames as he started flying after Johny. What was he going to win if he catched him! Oh, oh, a new friend? Kuro had mentioned he could bond with other elementals!

And so they began their chase. He had to give it to Johny, the ghost knew how to fly! But that wasn't fair since Brun was just one month old or so. The time before Kuro summoned him didn't count, he had been sleeping at that time. The ghost had, like, hundreds of years of practice. That and he could hide in walls! Not fair at all. Fire couldn't hide in walls.

After some time, Johny decided to try to escape him by one of the small alleys he went through several times already. It was starting to get boring, he didn't vary his escapes at all.

"Uuuh?" Brun let out as he noticed the Mana Rope stretched in front of him, keeping him from going after Johny further in the alley. Now that really wasn't fair! He turned around, only to bounce off another part of the stretched Mana Rope.

"Aww." He winced, and looked around. Woa! He was imprisoned in a giant Mana Rope net! Wait a second…

Oh… he was bound by the Mana Rope now.

"Hahahaaaa! Suckeeeer!" Johny cackled triumphantly at Brun's pouting face before the mana rope covered it too. And he couldn't get out of it too! It was starting to feel like… like he was imprisoned again, without corporal form! He didn't want that! He was beginning to suffocate! Fire needed more air to burn. He didn't want to return to his spirit form just yet!

"Aaa!" The fire elemental let out a totally-not-cute frustrated sound, making his body release an explosion of fire to free him from the chains! Haha, take that Mana Rope!

Wait…

"Muahahahahaha!" Johny laughed evilly. Oh no, did he free him? He destroyed the rope… He freed him! Kuro was going to be soooo mad...

Johny started growing and returning to his true, evil form! Oh no, Kuro was going to kill him for that… And… He was raising his hand... What was these cracks appearing in the sky?

 _Crack!_

Everything shattered, letting the real world emerge from everywhere. Brun rose above the alley, looking around at the chaos, completely awed. Everyone was playing with everyone! Oh, maybe they were not playing. That guy over-there just coughed the red liquid that everyone let out when they don't feel great.

"Now, I shall finally possess the body of my choice!" Johny smirked to him from below in the alley, and his yellow body started pulsing in strange ways. He was recovering his power!

"Uuu, no! Don't do that!" Brun protested, and pointed his palms at him to send his strongest attack to the ghost.

 _Boom!_

A huge torrent of fire filled the alley below him. Brun moved his hands again to the sky, and then a giant pillar of flame rose from the alley above the roofs, result of a powerful explosion of fire. Brun waited for the flames and smoke to clear up, excited and eager to see if he did any damage on his first fight ever!

To his shock, there was nothing left! And everything was on fire! No, wait, there was that small gem here… And it felt like there was a part of Johny in it too. Like Kuro said, people dropped things when they died! Well, Johny was already dead, but you get the point.

Kuro had mentioned something similar with the zombies, they dropped weird gems too.

"I got him, I got him!" Brun cheered as he flied in circles and clapped his hands. He stopped when he realized just what that meant, and that Kuro was still going to punish him. "Oops.." He pouted.

Something made of metal suddenly went through his flames. What was it called again? A Kurenai or something. Anyway, he turned to the source of the projectile and saw a man looking at him with wide eyes. Brun's eyes rose to the metal on his head, it had a weird symbol on it. But it wasn't a leaf.

With a certain curiosity, he used his attack again to see if this one would survive.

 _Boom!_

Another fire pillar rose in the sky, and people started running away from Brun. It made him giggle, maybe this was like a game after all! He turned back to the bad person.

This time, it left a black, smoky skeleton behind. That was weird, wasn't it supposed to drop gems?

Brun shrugged, choosing to conserve his mana as he had nearly depleted his reserves with these two powerful attacks.

Now, what was he supposed to do? He had to be careful, he had used a lot of Kuro's mana. But he was going to recover it with time anyway so he supposed it was okay. He looked around a little. If he remembered right, the ones with leafs on their head's metal pieces were Kuro's friends, so he had to save and help them.

Brun's eyes fell on a group of people in robes, running somewhere. Among them, he recognized Hina! The girl Kuro liked to dance with. Brun remembered her, cause she kept fainting around Kuro and Naru, he found it funny. And all of her weird friends had the same eyes too.

Brun was now determined. He was going to make up for Johny's… death… whatever it was called, and protect friend Hina! That way, Kuro will be proud of him and maybe he wasn't going to punish him!

He smiled to himself as he followed after the group of Hina and started gathering Fire in his hands, searching for eventual threats...

* * *

 **Kurota's Clone's POV**

* * *

"They're coming." I whispered to the two Naruto clones, who nodded hesitantly.

We were hidden in a tree above the way the enemies were going to pass.

I made a handseal, casting an illusion of us standing on a branch below, armed and ready.

"Ohohoho, that's just cute!" We heard the leading guy chuckle and he threw a kunai towards the illusions which I moved to make them 'dodge'. His comrades arrived to, landing on a branch.

"Now!" I urged the clones, While I made the illusions jump to attack.

The clones let themselves fall towards a group of five ninja each.

 _'They're not packed enough.'_ I gritted my teeth.

"Genjutsu!" Someone cried as he destroyed my illusions which exploded in an explosion of multicolored butterflies.

"Up!" Another yelled.

Naruto threw several kunais with explosive tags, but the enemies were ready and he only managed to kill one of them with the explosions.

The blonde then made a handseal to activate the other explosive tags he had under his jacket, and just before landing in the middle of them...

 _Boom!_

The explosion did not do as much damage as it could have, but it still took out 4 people.

The other clone threw some explosive kunais around too, injuring a couple enemies, but before he could blow himself up...

 _Slash_

One of the enemies slashed the clone's throat, and he dispelled without having the time to activate the tags or do anything else.

"You up there in the tree! Stop sending your clones and fight us!" The leading guy yelled to me.

I sighed loudly as I drew my Ninjato, and landed on a branch away in front of them. They were kinda stupid, yelling like that.

"The two others dispelled..." I sighed again. "Not good for you."

"Hah, did you hear him guys?." The guy boasted. An Oto ninja… Were they all like that? He just lost five comrades! "Why would that be not good for us?"

"Because now I can display the full extent of my skills without worrying about any witnesses." I flexed my legs and prepared myself.

"Kill him! Formatio-"

I didn't let him the time to give instructions to his comrades and jumped towards the leader, who instantly smirked as various projectiles were frown my way.

They bounced off my Mana Shield harmlessly, causing several confused expressions in the enemy's group.

I landed next to him and swung my Futon-enhanced blade, cutting through his kunai like butter and slashed his chest, while two others managed to break through my mana shield by pure force.

I tilted my head to the side, narrowly dodging a fist and headbutted its owner on the nose, while shooting a Mana Bolt to a second with my free hand to his face.

Normally a headbutt would have dispelled a clone, but I had my Mana Armor to tank the damage.

The two bodies fell off the branch and I turned to another who had jumped towards me and was performing handseals. Blue eyes met his, and he instantly began screaming madly before crashing into the branch. Another tried to catch me from behind but I didn't even turn my head towards him before jumping above his weird Doton punch and doing an acrobatic salto above him, landing a foot on his shoulder and using the other to kick him hard in the back of his head.

"Now!"

I was forced to dodge another swarm of projectiles, some of which bounced off my second Mana Shield.

Six enemies jumped after me while I was beginning to fall towards the ground.

I summoned a Mana Spear four meters long, planted it in the tree next to me, rotated around it two times for catapult effect and launched myself at them.

I met the first one, who seemed surprised by my spear, and opened his guard widely with Psyckokinesis. There was nothing he could do but looking horrified as I planted my sword in his heart and tossed his body towards the second, while the two next bounced off a Mana Shield that I had, again, re-summoned.

I landed on the ground, gritting my teeth as I prepared myself to welcome another three Chunins falling towards me, but I had to side-step away from hands that suddenly appeared from the earth. A Doton jutsu… Without mercy, I cut off the hands before receiving a kick on the side of the face, sending me flying towards the rest of their forces and nearly breaking my Mana Armor.

A ninja tried to cut me in two with his sword during my flight, but I disappeared in an Instant Dimension and reappeared behind three of them, this time with one sword in each hand, while the crack in my Mana Armor on the side of my head was slowly repairing itself.

"Aaah!" I yelled as I stabbed two of them in the back while the other jumped desperately away.

"Suiton, Mizzu Rappa!" he yelled, and a powerful stream of water came out of his mouth towards me.

 _Ping! Ping!_

I threw myself to the side and rolled on the ground while another was diving towards me with kunais in his hand. I kicked out in reflex and my foot met his ribs while my back was still on the ground, sending him crashing in a tree. At the same time, I threw one of my swords to another incoming enemy to the left, but he dodged it narrowly, leaving a deep cut on the side of his throat.

"Shit..." I cursed as I rolled away from his powerful blow which shook the earth and made a little crater. I easily dodged the rocks that were sent flying everywhere, and managed to stand up in time to see five enemies surround me. I needed to engage before the rest caught up.

One of them met my eyes again, he fell on his ass and looked at his arm, horrified by my illusion. I rushed quickly to another but the guy was ready to greet me.

"Katon: Endan!" he spat fireballs towards me.

"Suiton, Mizzu Rappa!" I tested the skill I just learned seconds earlier and drowned his fireballs in water, even if the stream was a lot less powerfull than the one before. However, another ninja came and kicked me out of the way to protect his comrade.

"Damn…" I groaned as I charged towards them again, since the two guys over there were a little isolated from the others who were behind me or to my left.

"Futon: Daitoppa!" He yelled and pointed his palm towards me.

I smirked, letting Aeris manipulate the air to make it pass around me without doing anything. If I had Brun with me I could have done the same with the fireballs.

"H-how!" He yelled, panicking, and I disarmed him easily before decapitating him. The other tried to spit a fireball again, but I threw a kunai at incredible speed in his mouth and he burned his own head, screaming in agony.

 _'I don't have much mana left.'_ I noticed and dispelled Aeris for economy, before turning to face the remaining shinobis. _'Ten… and two unconscious. The rest probably dead… There are more of them than I thought.'_

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath while they were rushing towards me and…

... I whistled.

Everyone immediately started covering their ears, some screaming madly.

It was an area of genjutsu that I had just started working on, auditive genjutsu. I could only do one powerful tone at a time because I wasn't using any instrument (damn those were expensive, and not easy to find), and for the same reason, it consumed a lot of chakra so I didn't want to use it before running out of Mana. Regardless, it did its job.

The majority of them were wide open, and I immediately sprinted to them and sliced a throat, stabbed a chest, slashed another, and sliced a throat again… I was interrupted by an enemy who had managed to recuperate and performed another Fire jutsu on me, forcing me to dodge away by jumping in the air.

"Mana spear!" I groaned. Four spears materialized around me, and I sent each of them to an enemy ninja. Two died impaled to the ground, still confused by my auditive genjutsu, the others dodged by rolling out of the way or throwing themselves away.

I focused chakra in my feet, overusing it so much that a blue aura could be seen around my legs, reminiscent of Ami's technique. As soon as I landed, I dashed, suddenly way faster than before, and oriented an incoming enemy strike away from me with Psyckokinesis while I slashed again, opening a belly.

"Die!" One of them yelled and threw several explosive tags towards me, completely disregarding his team. I concentrated a little and simply sent them back to him with telekinesis.

As he exploded in the background, one of the two remaining ninjas threw a chain to me while the other attempted to use genjutsu on me. Needless to say, it was useless, I manipulated the chain to bind its owner and turned the poorly crafted illusion against its own creator.

"N-Noooo! You monster! D-don't kill m-"

I hit the side of their heads with the guard of my sword to knock them out, before doing the same with the remaining injured enemies who were groaning in agony on the ground.

I sighed.

 _'_ _Did I_ _just really do that...?'_ I wondered, only slightly panting.

I raised my head and took the time to look around me. It… it was a massacre. Thankfully, [Gamer's Mind] did its job and promptly deleted the horror of the scene to preserve my stomach, and made any sense of shame or regret vanish.

 _Killing was easy._

* * *

 **A/N: That's it. I hope you enjoyed! Now a few infos:**

 **About Beta-reading:** **So my beta-reader quit. He's pretty busy and don't have time for that anymore apparently. I'm not sure if I still need one, but if some of you are interested, send me a PM. I'd prefer someone with a bit of writing experience if possible, and of course you need to be English.  
So this chapter probably contains a few mistakes, don't hesitate to point them out in a review.**

 **About Omakes : I've decided to do Omakes, which can be cannon or not. If you want you can send me your own Omakes of the fic in PMs, and I'll publish one of them at the end of each chapter from now on. You can write other character's POV if you want, or 'what if' short stories, anything is possible really. I'll just be the one in the end to decide if I make it cannon or not. I don't really expect a lot of you to write something, so there will probably be chapters without omakes.**

 **Kurota: Hmph, is this your way of making up for a short chapter after a long wait?**

 **Champy: No... The previous one was an exception, this chapter is actually in the norm. 3,400 words or so. I just thought Omakes were a cool thing to add.**

 **Kurota: Then why does it come out so late?**

 **Champy: Well my PC's screen broke and I needed to change it. And when I finished the chapter I sent it to my beta-reader but he quit after a week of wait. Meanwhile I also started working on another potential fic on rwby, not sure when I'll publish it. So yeah...  
**

 **Kurota: I'm not convinced, but I'll let it go since it's the new year.**

 **Champy: Aww.**

 **Kurota: And your birthday, too.**

 **Champy: Awwww. Okay, enjoy this Omake, written by me since it's the first one! Happy New Year everyone!**

* * *

 **Omake: (May or may not be cannon) By _Sir Champygnakx_**

* * *

 **Kurota's POV, two weeks before the third task of the chunin exam, in his bedroom.**

* * *

This evening I did something I hadn't done in a long time.

I played video-games.

An RPG, precisely.

Mom had forced me to take a break from my training and locked me in my bedroom so that I could sleep.

 _'Heh, sleep is for the weak.'_ I thought as I loaded my previous save, and started to do quests and stuff.

 **Later**

"That's fucking boring." I sighed as I finished another quest. "And why can't I travel a bit without meeting a dragon at every corner?!"

"I don't get it either-" Johny scoffed, before getting tackled by Aeris and Brun who had been searching for him.

I was going to quit the game, but before I quit the menu, I stopped. There, just above the 'quit game' button, there was… What if…?

"Options?" I tried, and I widened my eyes when a rectangle appeared.

"Haha… This ability..."

* * *

 **Options Menu**

 **Gameplay**

 **Video**

 **Audio**

 **Controls**

 **Quit**

* * *

 _What. The. Fuck._

 _'That's so bullshit.'_ I though as I checked the possibilities. First, I tried changing the difficulty from Realist to Easy in the Gameplay option.

 _Ping!_

 **You must complete the game at least once to unlock other difficulties.**

"The game? What game? There's no game, just real life." I half-laughed. How could I complete 'The Game'? By dying? No way.

"The hell are you babbling about, brat?" Johny groaned, he had managed to trick the elementals and escape them while they were searching for him outside. He was getting good at it.

 _Isn't this the proof that I can respawn if I die?_

The problem was, there was no 'save' option. Well, I didn't really have a strong desire to try my hand at suicide anyway.

Moving on, I could change the camera to 3rd person. A bit disorienting, but nice to check my back, I guess. Useless since I had my Dojutsu though.

I could lower the graphics…

"Gah! My eyes!" I cried when I set the graphics on 'Potato', which essentially made my vision a slurry of pixels.

"Okay… How about inverting the directions?" I wondered, trying the option Controls.

"Oooh..."

"…" Johny was staring at me, confused. "Are you crazy?" He asked finally, "You should sleep! It's not like I'd try to possess you or anything!" he was changing color again, sign that he'll probably start throwing insults.

"Shh." I changed the Dialogue sound to 0%, so I couldn't hear him any more.

"Awesome! I should have tried this way before." I marvelled at the sight of a quiet Johny becoming crazy angry and probably throwing a good lot of insults. I turned the Music on 50% to test, and it made me listen to some classy music as I watched Johny swear angrily. The dream.

Subtitles, now. A line of text appeared in front of me.

 **John Cairh: … and when all the arrogant, stupid, primitive, senseless bitch stars aligned, you were born and became an anomaly of reality! And probably just for the sole purpose of making my life a living hell! Kurota the master of monkeys, that's what they should call you, because you are such...  
**

Okay, subtitles off…

 _'Aeris, Brun, Johny is in there.'_ I called mentally, causing the two elementals to burst in the room and rush on Johny who cursed angrily.

And then, the last one: 'Quit'. I hesitated for a long time with this one. In the end, I settled to have it tested by a bunshin.

"It says: 'Are you sure you want to quit?'" The clone reported, even though I could read it from above his shoulder. It was weird but apparently clones could see my windows and vice-versa.

"Yeah." I answered, and the clone nodded and pressed the Yes button.

 **Are you really sure you want to quit? All non-saved data will be lost.**

"Uh… I'm not so sure…" The clone said, looking worried. "The window is red now… and there are warning sounds."

"Huh..." Was all I could say. "Fuck it, do it!"

The clone hesitated, sweating, but finally pressed the button.

He disappeared. Vanished. No explosion of smoke. I did not receive his memories.

I waited for a long minute, but he did not come back nor did I receive any memories. Not even when the tournament began.

To this day I still wonder if this mysterious option sent him somewhere else, or if it just completely erased his existence from reality.

* * *

 **A/N: Next chapter: before the end of the january.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Update : I'm super busy, so it's delated until febrary holidays, sorry guys.**

 **Update 2 (16th february) :** **Oh god, I'm sorry guys. I'm really super busy this semester, teachers keep throwing me more work... I think we can call this a hiatus by now. I really don't know when I'll have time to write again - and don't worry, it's not the writer's block, I know exactly what to write - but I can't seem to find the time for it. I won't be updating this for a while, probably until April, or worse, the end of my semester (June). I apologize for the lack of updates... As a student in an engineer's school, I really need to focus on passing my semester. I hope you understand.**


	44. Chapter 41

**I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

* * *

 **A/N: Hiatus over. Yay! To celebrate, I changed the cover picture two days ago. Still simple, but way better than just 'The Gamer'.**

 **Warning: This chapter is why I rated this fic M. Some descriptions are a bit... eh, you'll see.**

 **Another warning: this chapter was not beta-read. I'm a bit nervous releasing it... Please be lenient on the mistakes I probably made when writing this. Reading this long chapter over and over to find grammar errors is tiring, so I'll just publish it. Don't hesitate to point out mistakes in reviews.**

 **Hope you enjoy! Also, longest chapter yet, to compensate for the hiatus.**

* * *

 **Kurota's clone's POV**

* * *

 _Previously_

 _I hit the side of their heads with the guard of my sword to knock them out, before doing the same with the remaining injured enemies who were groaning in agony. I sighed._

 _'Did I… Did I just really...?' I wondered, only slightly panting._

 _I raised my head and took the time to look around me. It… it was a massacre. Thankfully, [Gamer's Mind] did its job and promptly deleted the horror of the scene to preserve my stomach._

I sat down for a bit, only slightly panting.

 _Killing is easy._

It felt like I should be more horrified by what I just did, yet the only emotion present was pride and amazement for accomplishing this feat.

I healed myself to replenish my stamina, and sat there to think a bit.

"Aeris!" I summoned the air elemental once I had enough mana.

 _'Kurota! You're okay!'_ She exclaimed happily.

"Yeah..." I looked at her. "I killed these people."

 _'You did!'_ She nodded sagely.

I sighed. An elemental wouldn't understand… But now isn't the time to slack around.

"I gained eight levels..."

Those shinobi had been level 40 to 60. However, as a clone, I couldn't use my points to increase my stats.

"Wait… No way." I muttered as I noticed something near the body of an enemy ninja.

"Item drops..." I recognized, amazed.

I scavenged all the bodies. In the end, I had gained five health potions, eight chakra pills, a lot of money and a Doton skill book.

 _'Observe.'_

* * *

 **[Low grade chakra pill – Rank: Normal]**

 **A low – middle grade chakra pill that instantly recovers 200 CP.**

 **Tastes like piment.**

 **Clever Genius bonus: Additional 100 CP recovered if fed by yourself.**

 **Clever Genius bonus: Additional 100 CP recovered if eaten by yourself.**

* * *

 **[Middle grade health potion – Rank: Normal]**

 **A middle - high grade health potion that instantly recovers 500 HP.**

 **Tastes like apple juice.**

 **Clever Genius bonus: Additional 250 HP recovered if fed by yourself.**

 **Clever Genius bonus: Additional 250 HP recovered if drank by yourself.**

* * *

 **[Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu]**

 **A C-rank jutsu that changes earth into fine sand by channeling chakra into it, allowing the user to dig through it like a mole. This effect goes around the body (not just the hands), making it just large enough for a person to move through.**

 **Requires Skill: [Chakra Nature Transformation: Doton] level 10**

 **Clever Genious Bonus: Additional XP gained in the skill [Chakra Nature Transformation: Doton].**

* * *

Unfortunately I couldn't put them into my inventory, since I was a clone… So I sealed all of it into a storage scroll, while thinking of the previous battle.

"If I could do this… surely the true me won't have any problems with Gaara." I declared, as Aeris stared at me curiously.

"I won't dispel." I decided, getting a cry of joy from the air elemental. "I still have a substantial amount of chakra left… and chakra pills. I'll defend Konoha. Help whoever I can. Check out the arena." I nodded to myself, even wondering if I should make another clone myself.

Eventually, I decided against it. I nearly ran out of mana back then, I didn't want to half my MP again.

 _'Let's goooo!'_ Aeris grinned, pointing her finger and flying towards Konoha. I ate a few chakra pills to replenish my chakra and followed after her, dismissing the bad feelings I had after slaughtering these people.

* * *

 **Original Kurota's POV**

* * *

"We've nearly caught up with them… They're immobile. Prepare yourselves!" I warned Sakura and Naruto.

"Yes!"

I narrowed my eyes. "Sasuke's chakra signature is too low. He's fighting alone against their whole team..."

"That teme..." Naruto groaned.

I activated my eyes, to look ahead and look at Sasuke's state.

"This is bad..." I narrowed my eyes, as we closed the remaining distance. "Sasuke's been poisoned somehow! Gaara's going to kill him!"

Gaara's arm was currently covered by sand, forming a giant arm with claw. He also had a tail made of sand… and half of his face was covered by sand, but it was different. The sand was more solid, tougher, yet just as malleable.

"DIEE!" Gaara yelled madly, jumping towards Sasuke who was laying on an other branch, defenseless.

"Oh no you won't!" I shouted as Naruto and I intercepted him and kicked his face at the same time. The power behind our combined kicks sent him flying towards his teammates, who avoided the crash and took their distances.

We landed on a branch, and I immediately went to Sasuke. Sakura had already began healing him with her mystical palm.

So she took my advice of studying medical ninjutsu? Good.

"I can't get rid of the poison!" Sakura's voice trembled. "A-and those marks..."

"Orochimaru's mark… He used it." I groaned and knelt beside him.

"Guys!" Naruto shouted. "Who the hell is that!" He pointed at the monstrosity that was the Suna Jinchuuriki.

"Gaara." I answered, and performed my [Mind Healing] on Sasuke. I could not afford to care if Sakura saw it or not.

I had leveled up the Mind Healing enough that I didn't need spiritual gems to get rid of weak status effects.

A green light escaped from my hand and entered Sasuke's body. To my delight, not only the poison disappeared, but the marks of Orochimaru's Juinjutsu also withdrew towards his neck!

"I-incredible… Thank you so much," Sakura gaped, before her eyes widened on something behind me.

"GUYS ! GET AWAY!" I heard Naruto scream.

I activated [Accelerated Mind], along with my [World's True Vision]. Gaara was in the air approaching us at an alarming speed.

' _Shit.'_ I turned towards him and threw a Psyckokinesis wave towards him while drawing my Ninjato.

It didn't affect him.

"Die ! Uchiha Sasuke!"

' _He's targeting Sasuke?'_

Sakura moved in between them, kunai drawn. I followed her by placing myself in front of them.

"Haa!" I swung my wind chakra enhanced blade towards the sand arm, cleanly cutting it in half.

 _Too_ cleanly.

The thing, with blades enhanced with wind chakra, was that it cut perfectly most materials. In this case, however, Gaara's arm was made of sand, so it wasn't really a solid mass.

The result? It was like I swung my blade across an arm made of water. It cut it… but it reformed itself instantly.

"Sakura! Kurota!"

As a desperate defense, I summoned a Mana Shield in front of us, and a blue sphere covered us. However, as soon as the sand arm came into contact with it, my mana evaporated.

I remembered Johny's words.

' _Even with all your power, you're still ignorant. I had assumed you knew mana abilities were canceled by demonic power.'_

So it also canceled solid abilities like mana shields or spears, in addition of being immune to Psyckokinesis?

 _His sand and his whole body are saturated with Demonic chakra._

"Raaah!" Gaara extended his sand arm at us, brutally pushing me and Sakura against a tree.

"Ugh..." I groaned. My Mana Armor didn't work either… It was completely evaporating except on my face, it tried to reconstruct itself but the demonic sand was keeping it from growing back. I turned it off completely, to avoid more MP loss.

"Aaah!" Sakura cried in pain behind me. I was pressed by Gaara's sand against Sakura, who in turn was pressed against the tree. I glanced at my HP.

 **HP: 1442/2086**

"Tch… [Id Create]." I mumbled, but as soon as the mana flow left my hand to create the dimension, it was canceled by the demonic chakra since my hands were inside the sand too. On top of that, I lost two thirds of my MP… How the hell did I lost that much?! Did Brun had a problem with Johny or something?

"Guh!" Gaara winced in pain, holding his head with his normal arm. "Why…?" His shoulder was no longer bleeding from my attack from our match.

His teammates were maintaining their distances, apparently afraid of his state.

"Farasuke… Killing you too will prove my existence!"

"H-hey, asshole! I'm right here!"

The monster turned his attention towards Naruto.

"Those eyes… What's wrong ?!" Gaara groaned at the blonde. "Weren't you going to flee?"

"Guh..." Naruto winced.

"What are they to you?" Gaara roared.

"My friends! So you leave them alone or I'll kick you ass!" Naruto shouted, pointing an angry finger at him.

The sand reinforced his pressure against us. I coughed some blood, feeling my rib cage slowly getting crushed.

 **HP: 920/2086**

"Ahhh!" Sakura cried in pain behind me. I glanced at her health.

 **HP:538/1430**

"Come on…" I groaned as I drank a potion of Health that I had taken out of my inventory with psychokinesis. "Drink it..." I muttered to her as I fed her a potion too, while I figured out a solution.

"Well? Weren't you going to kick my ass?" Gaara smirked.

Naruto grit his teeth.

* * *

 **Meanwhile... Brun's POV**

* * *

"Fayabolto! "

Brun launched his fire attacks towards the bad guys that wanted to harm the robe guys.

"FayaBeamo!"

A beam of fire went out of his palm and he pointed it towards the bad guys, unleashing a torrent of heat and destruction.

"Fayaballzo!"

He came up with such cool names too. Totally not copied on Kuro's games. Nope.

"What are you!" Some guy with a robe asked from below Brun, who was currently floating a few meters above the ground.

Brun was pretty sure Kuro would be mad if he told what he was to those guys. Still, he needed them to understand that he was with the robe guys!

He stopped attacking to answer, while a few shuriken passed harmlessly through him.

"I'm a friend of friend of… Uh… "

"Watch out!" The man shouted.

Brun looked at the direction the man pointed, to discover a torrent of water coming towards him.

"Aahh!" Brun let out a scream of terror. He was going to be dispelled by the water!

"Hakkeshou Kaiten!"

A spinning blue sphere appeared in front of him and dispersed the water.

Brun let out an explosive sigh of relief. If Aeris asked later, he totally did not let out a few tears of liquid fire on that one!

"Thanks!" the elemental grinned at the guy in robe.

"I don't know why a creature such as you would help us, but if you're protecting the clan, we'll keep the water attacks away from you."

"Okayy!" Brun smiled happily, and his eyes attack zeroed on the author of the water attack.

He raised his hands towards the ground below the guy, below which a red, glowing disk appeared…

"Colonnofayah!"

The guy screamed as a colon of fire rose towards the sky, engulfing him in roaring heat.

"I'll just focus the water guys from now on..." Brun grinned as the robe guys were finally getting to a safe place.

* * *

 **Kurota's clone POV**

* * *

I've never seen a true battle before.

Now, when I looked around in the village, I understood.

This isn't a battle… This is a massacre! They're slaughtering innocents too!

"Kyaaa!" I heard a woman's voice cry out. A suna chunin was raising his weapon to hit her as she was protecting her children.

"Hey!" I yelled to him before he could strike. He turned to me.

And proceeded to collapse on the ground, caught in my genjutsu.

"You okay?" I asked as I checked their status after landing near them. I shook my head. "You're okay. Find somewhere safe."

I jumped away before they could react, heading towards the arena.

' _My parents are still there… Somewhere.'_

As I progressed towards the building, I helped several people on the way, killing some enemies, healing some allies with my mystical palm.

Some people, I could not save without dispelling myself. So sometimes I had to be more careful in order not to get hit, and it resulted in some deaths on our side. I also avoided some fights that were above my level, not taking any risks. I had no choice, if I got dispelled, I wouldn't be there to help anymore.

After several fights, I finally arrived back in the arena. I ate another two chakra pills while I analyzed the situation from a hundred meters away.

The Kazekage was standing on the roof with a Jonin against Kakashi, Gai and a few chunins, including my father.

At the center of arena, was a pool of melted gold, probably from the gold dust the Kazekage was waving around.

Behind the Kazekage, was a dark cubic barrier, surrounded by four Oto shinobis.

"[Observe]."

* * *

 **Four Violet Flamed Formation: Barrier Ninjutsu [Rank: Epic]**

 **A solid, strong barrier formation, performed by four shinobi.**

 **Standing in a square formation, the performers are covered from all sides.**

 **The faces of the barrier are made from pure purple flames.**

 **The barrier does not allow anyone to enter or exit so long as the ninjas are unharmed.**

 **The body of anyone touching it will immediately be engulfed in flames.**

 **In addition, there is no way to destroy the formation from inside the barrier, since the four people also have a barrier on the inside protecting them.**

 **Breaking out is extremely difficult as well.**

 **This barrier can even prevent a user of the Spirit Transformation Technique from having their materialized spirit from leaving its confines.**

* * *

"Well, that's a lot of information..." I mused and looked inside the barrier. "Also, not good for us."

Inside were the Hokage and Orochimaru, fighting some epic battle. The Sandaime had performed a Kage Bunshin, while Orochimaru had summoned what seemed to be zombified versions of the previous Hokages.

I was pretty sure I could get around this barrier if I made an Instant Dimension, went to the center, and escaped it. I could also potentially profit from my title, [Zombie Slayer], if I were to go against those reanimated Kages.

However, I alone wouldn't be able to do anything against the first and second hokage, and that's without considering I was just a bunshin!

I considered the four shinobis that performed the barrier. They were isolated from both the outside and the inside… Maybe I could materialize in their part of the barrier?

I narrowed my eyes. The space seemed so restrained… What would happen if I went back in reality directly in the wall or the shinobi?

I didn't want to find out...

I turned my eyes to the Kazekage, continuing my analyze of the situation, and…

 _What the hell is that?_

On his back, were carved various symbols of Fuinjutsu, among which I couldn't recognize a few. They were reaching from his neck to his legs. There was a transference seal, fueled by what seemed to be black chakra, which was coming from a Juinjutsu mark, probably Orochimaru's.

Now if only it was just that.

Several… tentacles of dark blue mana were coming out of the transference seal, all of them bent to reach the kazekage's head – his brain. They weren't there before, I was sure of that.

' _Observe'_ I thought, even though I already had an idea of what it was.

* * *

 **? [Rank: Epic]**

 **A complex assemblage of Fuinjutsu and Glyphs, it is designed for mind control.**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

* * *

Not much information on this one...

So he was controlled at distance by someone using mana? Who? And what was a 'glyph' ?

If he was really being mind-controlled, could it be that there was a chance to make him come back to his senses and call off the attack on Konoha?

Was it possible to cancel a technique like that? By cutting the connection?

My eyes shifted to Kakashi. With his sharingan, he was probably able to see Orochimaru's Juinjutsu and the black chakra fueling the transference seal, but the blue tentacles of mana remained invisible to him, so he had no idea the Kazekage was being mind controlled.

I couldn't exactly tell him either, it would reveal too much about the my abilities, and wouldn't accomplish much. I'd also lose the advantage of surprise, which was crucial.

The best option was to attack Raza while he was distracted by the others. I narrowed my eyes, rapidly forming a plan.

Step one: get close, fast. An [ID Create], followed by a shunshin, and an [Id Escape] would perfectly do the trick. I had enough mana for only one try since I was currently using [Accelerated Mind], to speed up my thought process.

Step two: cutting the tentacles. If it was like my mana, I could do that with a simple wind-enhanced blade. Once cut, the Kazekage will probably be confused or stunned by the interruption.

The problem was his annoying Jiton. The magnet release, conferring magnetic powers to the user. With that he could manipulate metal – which was why he was fighting with gold dust – and prevent my Ninjato from cutting the tentacles… I'd have to create a Mana Sword or dagger, he wouldn't be able to move that. I tried to make those once, just to have the option later. It was proving to be a good decision already.

If we were lucky, once the tentacles were cut, he could regain his right mind, or black out. Either way, I should have a few seconds to realize step three.

Step three: prevent the transference seal from re-summoning the tentacles. I could probably cut the connections between the transference seal and Orochimaru's mark, however, it would leave the black chakra to run wild in his body. Hmm… if I was right, a Mind Heal should take care of the spread of the mark for a minute or two.

Step four: destroy the transference seal, to ensure no connection remained between the Kazekage and whoever was controlling him. It was safer to do that while it wasn't fueled by Orochimaru's chakra, which was why I needed to cut the connections. Since the seal was _carved_ on his back, forming nasty scars, I'd have to either heal those scars – if it was possible, it should happen when I perform the Mind Heal - or make new scars by slicing his back to mess with the seal.

Step five: Make the Kazekage stop his ninjas? With an other Mind Heal, I could heal weak status effects like panic, anger, or confusion without the need of a spiritual gem. If the Kazekage regained his right mind, then we could convince him to call back his troops, or even help us against Oto? Well, the last one probably wasn't likely to happen, but if Suna left the battle, it would considerably help the defense of Konoha, and more than that… avoid a war between our two countries!

That was why I decided to go after The Kazekage and not after Orochimaru to help the Sandaime. The possibility to avoid a war between Suna and Konoha was just too good to pass up.

So I'd execute the plan, hoping the Kazekage would not dispel me by crushing me with his gold dust. He also had a bodyguard that I'd need to maintain away while doing my thing. The other Chunins around shouldn't cause me problems, they'd be too busy fighting Konoha Shinobis themselves.

Five seconds have passed since I landed on the arena's roof. It should take about the same time to execute the plan, that is if the others don't interrupt me.

I let out a shaky breath as I switched off [Accelerated Mind].

 _You can do it, Kurota. Just the fate of two countries on your shoulders. No pressure…_

I sighed as the [Gamer's Mind] took effect again to calm me down.

* * *

 **Original Kurota's POV, against Gaara**

* * *

I squirmed, still trapped in Gaara's sand with Sakura.

How could I get myself out of this? Relatively easily, to be honest. I could open a few Celestial Gates and probably break myself out by releasing enormous chakra and strength.

However, doing that would probably crush Sakura against the tree, and kill her. Even if it didn't kill her, there was no guarantee the sand wouldn't kill her while she was injured by my power.

Psyckokinesis couldn't work against the sand either. [ID Create] was out too. Aeris, useless. Brun, busy guarding Johny, and probably useless too. Sasuke remained unconscious.

Meanwhile, Naruto was doing his best against Gaara, and he even managed to injure him by putting an explosive tag on the monster's back. It showed me that the sand was vulnerable to explosions.

I gritted my teeth as I brought up my inventory and levitated a few explosive tags out of it. Carefully, they flew and stick against the sand's surface, at about the same level as my stomach.

The sand was going to take most of the explosion… and the rest wouldn't reach Sakura, because I was in the way.

' _Shit. Isn't there an other option?'_ I thought as I tried to find a skill that would help me in this situation.

Chakra enhancing? That would require so much chakra to boost my muscles to have enough strength, and even then, I couldn't use two-hand seals...

"Aaah..." Sakura whined in pain. I had to do this fast, while I had enough HP to endure the explosion.

Without my Mana Armor, it wasn't going to be pretty… but I had no choice. At least my face would be protected.

With great difficulty, I moved two fingers to form the most basic hand-seal, and focused most of my chakra to reinforce my torso and belly. I also focused some Mana to form a protective shell on some of my most vital organs, which took an infinitely precise control of the flow of Mana to perform, as well as caused a great deal of pain. A mistake would prove fatal and would probably kill me, but it was necessary for my survival. Finally, I formed a tiny Mana armor between me and Sakura, and on my face, drank a last health potion as well as fed my another to her before I activated the tags.

 _Boom!_

I screamed in agony as the sand was dispersed. Fortunately, the [Gamer's Mind] neutralized most of the pain. I fell on the branch, to my knees, panting, and looked down at my body.

My arms, legs, and the top of my torso… were either charred, scorched or blackened. I could feel the skin missing at multiple places, several muscles had been destroyed. On my sides, pieces of clothing had melted into the skin. The explosion had also torn through my belly, completely opening my insides. I could literally see my heart beat weakly, barely protected by a cracked mana shell that was _inside_ my body.

I screamed again, in horror this time, the heart accelerating, I started shaking, and the edges of my vision were slowly blackening.

This was not my body… There was no way… It wasn't even recognizable…

I heard someone gasp in terror besides me, a laugh in the distance...

And then… [Gamer's Mind] activated. My breath evened, I stopped shaking, my eyes focused, and I came back to my senses, which involved a disgusting smell of burned skin and flesh.

I checked my status.

 **HP: 13/2086**

It was dropping rather slowly, curiously. Why?

"Don't move… It's going to be okay… It's… Okay!"

I finally noticed Sakura besides me using some Iryojutsu on my body as she was crying.

"Ugh..." I let out a groan of pain as I lifted my left hand, which was missing the two fingers that I used to form the hand-seal, and was so badly injured we could see some bones sticking out of the burned flesh.

I used [Mind Heal].

A green light came out of my hand, and assaulted my arm, slowly coming towards my shoulders as it gradually regenerated the tissues. It couldn't reform missing fingers, but it connected the skin of the stumps, which seemed unnaturally clean in consequence. I cast it again, again, and again, until I had no MP left.

Eventually the green light reached my torso. It started moving the ribs back to their normal place, healing the organs and muscles, reforming the skin.

"I won't let you heaaaaaalll!" Gaara screamed from his branch and leaped towards me.

"Kurota!" Naruto shouted.

Almost absentmindedly, I reached my inventory with my healed arm, and threw several explosive tags at him. He blocked it with his sand arm, but the explosions were enough to keep him away. Naruto then positioned himself between us, and formed the Kage-Bunshin hand seal.

"Haaa… haaa..." I panted as I focused back on the green-light continuing its work, and I drank my last health potion.

It reached the stomach area, and I could feel it could not heal everything in the area, but at least it closed my insides and healed the muscles. It couldn't reform a full organ though, so as the green light left the area to head to my legs and right arm, I was left without stomach, most of my intestines gone, kidneys missing… Well, basically half the organs between the crotch and the heart were destroyed.

' _I don't need a digestive system anyway…'_ I couldn't help but think. With the Gamer's Body, I didn't need to eat, and I suspected it would take care of a lot of other problems too. I winced as I felt the parts of me missing down there. I was pretty sure it couldn't be healed through surgery… But a good night of sleep should take care of it.

"Kurota-kun..." Sakura whispered, at lost for words. I looked up at her, she still had tears rolling down her cheeks. She looked okay, although she had a few burns on her arms, I had successfully absorbed most of the explosion.

I tried to stand up. I expected pain, due to my missing organs, but weirdly enough, it never came. The Mind Heal had probably connected everything that needed to be connected, or [Gamer's Mind] was suppressing the pain again. I didn't know.

"You saved me..." I said with a hoarse voice. "Thanks..."

Had she not used her medical Ninjutsu to maintain me alive while I was panicking at the sight of my insides, my Hp would have surely dropped to zero. It spoke of her talent in this area that she was able to do this after only a month of training.

"Y-you're the one who saved me!" She half-laughed, half-cried. She let out a gasp of relief and launched herself at me. "Thank god… You're okay!" She hugged me.

 _What is she doing! It's not the moment for that! Plus, I'm really not okay._

I firmly put my hands on her shoulders and pushed her away from me. Not only we had a monster to kill, but I really didn't like it when people invaded my personal space like that.

I coughed awkwardly, which caused some blood to come out of my mouth.

"Uh… We need to deal with Gaara." I said, but she tried to cast another medical ninjutsu on me. "No seriously, I'll be okay." I insisted as I pushed her away. "Go heal Sasuke, or wake him up or something."

"Right!" She nodded and went after Sasuke, not before casting an amazed glance at the sight around us.

And what a sight it was. Only once did I see so much clones… No, it was even more than that time against Mizuki!

I took out some clothes out of my inventory to change the burned ones.

"Could use some help!" Naruto yelled, as his clones were blown away by Gaara's sand, dozens by dozens. Gaara had apparently become even more powerful as the sand covered now all his body. Still, the clones were landing numerous blows on the monster and the sand was continuously being deformed. The blonde had apparently remained unaware of what the explosion did to me.

I closed my eyes, and reached for two tenketsus located in my brain, disabling them one after the other.

The Gate of Opening and the Gate of Healing. The latter would temporally re-energize my body, which I desperately needed.

As I could feel my body crisping and overflowing with chakra and newfound strength and vitality, I then reached for a third tenketsu, in my spinal cord, before doing the same for an other one just below it.

The Gate of Life, and the Gate of Pain.

My skin turned red, and my heart accelerated. It was my limit, I did not have the stats, nor the skill level, to open the next gates. From now on, every push on my body may tear muscle tissue.

"Naruto, stand back!" I yelled and proceeded to dash at blinding speed, the branch breaking beneath my foot.

I appeared below Gaara and launched a kick up his chin, throwing him in the air. I then instantly jumped towards a tree and bounced back to punch him in the face, launching him in an other direction. In addition, all of my blows were enhanced by [Ferocious Blows] which increased my Strength by 30% as well as granting me a chance to cause additional bleeding effects. In this case, it tore apart the sand.

I continued that pattern, bouncing from tree to tree, hitting Gaara in all directions. Plus, when one of my muscles injured itself, I instantly used my [Mind Heal] to heal it, even though it took a bit of time to regenerate the tissue.

From a spectator's perspective, it looked like Gaara was being hit around by a green light that moved at blinding speed, shattering each tree it bounced on.

Gaara's sand was not able to endure such an attack, and it dispersed in the air. It tried to follow Gaara's body, but I was going so fast it was floating around, as if it was hesitating which direction choose.

Finally, when all his sand was gone, I kicked his body as far away as possible from his sand, and drew my Ninjato. With the Celestial Gates opened, my chakra flow was too messed up to enhance my blade with wind chakra, but Gaara didn't even have sand armor anymore.

He was just a human. I wouldn't need a wind enhanced blade to cut him to pieces if he didn't have protection.

I disappeared and reappeared where he was going to crash, exploding the ground as I landed and forming a small crater, and swung my Ninjato at his body with all my strength. Without his sand, it would cut him in half.

"RAAAH!" Gaara roared at the last moment and an impossible amount of sand came out of his belly to surround his body in an incredibly powerful explosion, blowing me several hundred meters away, crashing through several trees.

I landed on my feet, though, and quickly looked up.

The sand hardened around his body, and continued to expend into gigantic proportions, forming a head, two arms…

Without a doubt, this was the demon… the Ichibi.

 _Crap._

* * *

 **Kurota's clone's POV, against the Kazekage**

* * *

 _Now is my chance!_

The Kazekage had just launched a massive attack of golden dust towards Kakashi and Gai, which left himself relatively open without gold dust around him.

I raised my hand, creating the Instant Dimension, performed a shunshin to the position that was directly behind the Kazekage, and then used [ID escape] after creating a Mana Sword in my right hand.

I reappeared behind him as planned, and swung my blade to slice the mana tentacles.

When my Mana sword met the mana tentacles, something unexpected happened.

At first, it seemed like I was pulling on elastics, the tentacles extending as I pushed my blade through them, before a blinding light came out of the tentacles and my sword.

Before my blue eyes, I witnessed my blade dissolve _into_ the tentacle.

 _It absorbed my mana sword?!_

"Kazekage-sama!" I heard someone yell behind me as several symbols on Raza's back lit up with blue light. The Kazekage did not turn to me for some reason, raising his hand towards his golden dust.

 _Not good… A lot of energy is gathering inside those… those 'glyphs'?_

I ducked down just as the glyphs released the energy. A beam of light came out of the glyphs, and hit the bodyguard that was going to take me from behind. With my World's True Vision, I was able to see that the top of his body had been pulverized into nothingness, and the beam had bounced of the barrier where the Hokage and Orochimaru were fighting, and dispersed into the sky.

The Kazekage's gold dust bolted towards me as the beam ended, and the Suna leader started to turn towards me, surprisingly slowly – like a civilian would. I cursed and reached for my inventory for my Katana, swinging it at the tentacles as I enhanced it as fast as I could with wind chakra. Meanwhile, the glyphs had begun to charge up again.

Probably because Raza didn't have time to react to my weapon's surprising materialization into reality, my Katana cut all the tentacles cleanly, which caused the golden dust to fall down instantly. The Kazekage blacked out.

While I heard various shouts around me, I launched myself at the Kazekage's back, tearing through his clothes and slicing open his back, which cut the connections between Orochimaru's mark and the transference seal.

With my vision, however, I saw that the black chakra circulate through the body's tenketsus, attempting to find a way from his shoulder towards the seal on his back.

I felt some shuriken crash on my Mana Armor but it was able to endure most projectiles.

"Haa!" I shut down the tenketsus with several precise Juken strikes, technique that I had learned earlier today from watching Neji. I vaguely heard someone yell towards me as I did my work.

"I got it!" I yelled back to Kakashi, probably.

With the tenketsus closed, the black chakra released itself from the mark and started covering the whole body with marks. I quickly used a Mind Heal, which made the marks recede into the Juinjutsu.

It also woke the Kazekage up.

"What..." He groaned, before gripping my arm with his. I just had the time to cast an other Mind Heal and make a last cut on the transference seal, which caused the remaining tentacles to fade into nothingness, before I was being thrown across the arena.

Someone caught me.

"Are you insane?" Kakashi asked as he put me down. I didn't answer, looking in the Kazekage's eyes.

"You unconscious brat!" My father yelled as he landed next to us. "What are you doing here!"

"What..." Raza looked around, his face deformed in angry rictus. "What is the meaning of this! Konoha ambushing us!"

"Kazekage-sama!" I addressed him, side-stepping Kakashi and my father's hands. "I'm sorry for cutting your back but there was a complex seal on it that mind-controlled you!" The Kazekage looked at me, probably wondering how he should kill me. I continued. "You also have Orochimaru's mark on your right shoulder, I think Orochimaru used this mind-control seal on you to turn Suna against Konoha!"

Truthfully, I doubted Orochimaru was capable of generating Mana. No someone else did it.

Raza jumped away on the roof, and several Suna shinobi appeared by his side.

"Don't move," I said to my father, Kakashi and Gai. "This could avoid us a war. The Kazekage was Mind controlled by a complex Fuinjutsu."

Neither of them was an expert in Fuinjutsu, I hoped they would believe me.

"Mind-controlled?" Kakashi muttered. "It's true that he didn't speak at all, aside from his jutsus. Could it be..."

"He didn't use Taijutsu as well." Gai added.

"He only used his Jiton powers." Dad said too. "When he could have used high-rank Doton and Futon jutsus."

As a Suna shinobi was inspecting the Kazekage's back, I continued.

"Suna and Oto have launched an attack on Konohagakure while I was fighting against Gaara for the tournament." I said to Raza. The most information he had, the faster he would understand what happened.

"We believe that Orochimaru manipulated you, Kazekage, to side with Oto in this attack." Kakashi cut me, and I nodded to him, relieved it wasn't in my hands anymore, and glad that he was willing to believe me. "He used a... a 'mind-controling' Fuinjutsu. Call back your troops, sign a peace treaty with Konoha, and we can avoid a war between our countries."

"There's only a transference seal." Raza scoffed as someone was examining his back. "How do I know Konoha is not the one ambushing us!"

"K-kazekage-sama..." A Suna jonin with war paints on his face addressed him. "I'm sorry, Kazekage-sama, but it was you who ordered the attack."

The Kazekage turned to glare at his shinobis, who were uneasily nodding in agreement. "Should we cancel the attack, sir?" One of them asked, and my heart filled itself with hope.

There was a moment of heavy silence, when we could hear the sounds of fights in the distance. When we heard someone scream in agony somewhere, it made Raza decide.

"I have no desire to lead a war against Konoha. Call back our shinobis… Anyone attempting to stop us will be met with full retaliation. We will not hesitate to kill anyone in our way."

* * *

 **Original Kurota's POV**

* * *

"Kuchiyose No Jutsu!"

 _Poof!_

A small toad came out of the smoke.

"What the!? It's only a kid ! Gimme snacks if you wanna ask for a favor! Otherwise, I won't play with you!"

"… You know what! I _hate_ you frogs altogether!"

"Goddammit, Naruto!" I face-palmed as Sasuke shook his head, groaning.

"What's that !? Don't you dare take amphibian for a fool!" The toad protested angrily.

"Shut up!" I snapped, glaring at the toad with my blue eyes. It instantly fell silent.

"We have to do something!" Sakura said. "This thing is going find us sooner or later! Naruto, let me heal your wounds..."

We had managed to hide before Shukaku had fully formed its body. Naruto's remaining clones had transformed into me and provided a diversion while we found a place to hide.

"Damn…" Naruto groaned as Sakura used her medical jutsus on him. "After all the training I went through, it doesn't work?!"

"I am not sure what we can do against a threat of that size." Sasuke said.

"Naruto… You need to use your red chakra, like you did against Neji." I told Naruto. He listened to me, and I had gathered the attention of the rest of team 7 as well. "Your blue chakra isn't enough to summon… whatever it was you wanted to summon."

"Wait!" Pakkun cut me. "It could be dangerous. We already have enough with one on our plat-"

I shushed him by putting a hand on his mouth, which he bit. My Mana Armor glowed blue and protected my hand. What was this dog thinking, hinting Naruto's secret like that?!

"We have to take the risk. This thing could destroy Konoha…" I turned to Naruto, suddenly inspired. "We need you to protect the village, Naruto. You hear me? Only you can do it. Protect the village!"

Something lit up in Naruto's eyes, and he nodded seriously. "All right… I'll do it again. I won't fail this time! Believe it!"

"Sakura, Sasuke… Can you handle the other two? Temari and Kankuro. They are probably still around." I asked them.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, his eyes taking a darker shade. It was a surprising contrast with Naruto's eyes.

"We'll do that. They probably fled the area though..." He turned to Pakkun. "We'll need your smell to find them."

"Shurrr!" Pakkun said, still munching my hand. Sasuke extracted him and jumped away.

"Will you be okay?" Sakura asked us, looking at me specifically. I had hidden the hand that missed two fingers, so only her knew my current state. It was natural she was worried, since I missed half my organs down my belly.

"Don't worry. I've taken care of it." I waved her off, and she followed after Sasuke.

"All right Naruto. Do it."

"Haaaaaaa…" He formed a hand-seal and focused his chakra.

"Think it'll work?" The toad asked me, still pouting.

"He did it twice before." I said as I observed with my eyes. "Do it Naruto! Focus more on your belly… Lower… That's it. If you don't do it, this monster will destroy everything!"

"Haaaa!" Naruto's body became surrounded by red chakra, and I fell my Mana Armor evaporate without even touching it. Even my eyes flickered back to their green color for a bit before I refocused my mana in them. This was the power of the Kyubi, saturating the air around us.

"Kuchiyose No Jutsu!" Naruto yelled as he slammed his hand down.

 _Boom!_

Suddenly, we were standing way higher than we should. As the smoke cleared, a giant toad revealed itself.

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? GamaBunta**

The gigantic toad was colored a dull, rusty red, but around his eyes and on his lips and chest are brighter red markings.

He wore a large blue happi vest that had the kanji ebi on the back, and carried a massive dosu blade at his hip. He also carried a large kiseru pipe which he was currently smoking.

"YOU AGAIN!" He shouted, puffing his pipe angrily. "Whatcha want!"

"Found youuuuu!" Gaara screamed. Wait…

 **?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Shukaku**

It wasn't even Gaara anymore.

"Gamabunta-sama! Come and fight with me! This is the enemy!" Naruto pointed to Shukaku, "I'm counting on you!"

"Nope."

"HHUH?! But why! You said you'd made me your underling last time!"

"I ain't exchanged my Sakazuki with you yet… so." The toad groaned.

"But I'm not twenty years old yet!" Naruto deadpanned, and I face-palmed again.

"Gamabunta?" I asked. "We're the only thing between Shukaku and Konoha. We just want to protect our village! Please, help us!"

I ran to his ears. "Besides… don't you want to help the Yondaime's son?" I whispered.

Jiraiya had told me that Naruto's father had done a contract with the toad clan. It was his excuse to not make a contract with me… The legacy of the Yondaime.

"Hmmm?" The giant toad's eyes focused on me, and then on Naruto, who was still trying to convince him. "He is..."

"It's a secret." I said quickly.

"Hmph!" He puffed some smoke. "I needed the exercise anyway!"

"Yeah!" Naruto raised his fist in the air as Gamabunta drew his sword.

"Pops!" The small toad yelled happily.

"Gamakichi? What are you doing here?"

"Just hanging around!"

"Futon..."

"Careful!" I yelled as Shukaku took a deep breath.

"… Renkuudan!" He slapped his belly and spat a gigantic air bomb towards us.

"Hold on tight!" Gamabunta yelled, and dashed to the side.

"WAAAH" Naruto yelled, as we adhered our feet to the toad's skin.

"Futon, Renkuudan!" Shukaku yelled again.

This time, GamaBunta jumped, and did a few handseals.

"Suiton, Teppôdama!"

"Futon, Renkuudan!"

Air met water in violent explosions, unleashing diluvian rain on the forest.

"Boss! You missed one!" Naruto shouted as an other air bomb was coming towards us.

"Kuchiyose No Jutsu!" I yelled as I slapped my hand on my summoning scroll, making Aeris materialize.

She raised her hand towards the coming air bomb below us.

"Haaa!" She shouted cutely and the air bomb split in two, each part passing at Gamabunta's left and right.

"Good job, Aeris." I said as I consulted my MP.

 **MP: 142/10500**

Just for one bomb, it consumed that much mana?! I was nearly full before due to our hiding from Gaara previously! I instantly started meditating to regain my mana.

"You can summon too! Awesome!" Naruto shouted.

"Nice one, brat!"

Still, it proved useful, as the giant toad was able to land near Shukaku.

"Kenjutsu, Toad's blade slash!"

Shukaku roared as Bunta cut his right arm off and jumped away before the demon could retaliate.

"The medium is possessed by Shukaku because he's asleep." Bunta said as we watched the Bijuu slowly regenerate his arm. "We need to wake him up!"

"How do we do that?" Naruto asked.

"For now, rough up that medium kid, so the spell will break!"

It was true that half of Gaara's body was sticking out of Shukaku's forehead.

"How?"

"We'll get close, and do it when he'll have his guard down!"

"Pops! The other kid was mean to me! I think he should do it!"

"E-eh?" I gasped, opening an eye, still meditating.

"All right then!" Bunta groaned angrily, and his tongue warped around me.

"W-wait… I need to regenerate!" I protested. "And I'm exhausted! I can't open the gates anymore!"

"We don't have that time!"

"Futon, Renkuudan!"

"Suiton, Teppôdama!" Bunta shouted as he dashed around Shukaku, sometimes dodging the air bombs, sometimes countering them with water.

"Futon, Renkuudan!"

"Someone has fire?" Bunta yelled as he was getting close.

"I have!" I confirmed.

"Gamayudan!" Gamabunta spew oil out of his mouth and I knew what to do.

"Katon, Hosenka No Jutsu!" I spit a small fireball to ignite the oil. It was smart: an air bomb would only enhance a fire jutsu's power!

Naruto and I gaped as a titanic fire was launched towards Shukaku, doubling in size when it hit the airbomb.

 _BOOM!_

As the fire was slowly extinguishing itself, Gamabunta jumped above Shukaku.

"Now!" he yelled, and moved his tongue like a whip, launching me below.

"Are you fucking serious!" I screamed as I controlled my fall with Psyckokinesis. Man, the toad clan didn't like me at all, did they?!

"Futon, Renkuudan!" I heard, and the smoke cleared, revealing an air bomb rushing towards me.

'Kurota!' Aeris yelled.

I didn't have enough MP to split this one in two, but I had regained just enough for an [ID Create]!

I disappeared in the Instant Dimension, where Shukaku was non-existent. I let myself fall for three more seconds, materializing my Katana from my inventory, before escaping the Dimension.

I reappeared twenty meters above Gaara, not losing any momentum.

"NO!" Shukaku yelled and sand bolted towards me. I dodged most of them by moving my body with Pysckokinesis.

Only two more meters!

"Ahaaa!" Shukaku yelled in victory as his sand finally caught my right leg.

 _Shit. I'm out of range!_

I concentrated my chakra in my Katana, increasing the blade's length by a meter, and swung.

"Aaargh!" Gaara yelled in agony.

"Whose arm's missing now!" I laughed maniacally before screaming in pain as the sand crushed my leg.

"Die!" Gaara said viciously, now awake.

As the sand began to crush more and more of my body, I threw my katana, aiming for his chest, and it went through. He coughed blood, and the sand's grip weakened.

I raised my hand again, moving the Katana by using Psyckokinesis, pushing through the wound and then upwards with all the mana I could muster.

It tore his body from the sand.

Slowly, cracks appeared around Shukaku's body, until finally it dissolved into sand.

Gaara and I fell through the wood. We landed painfully on the ground, not moving anymore, my Katana still in his body.

I coughed some blood, and meditated until I had enough for a Mind Heal, which I focused on my legs. It healed my lower body decently.

I stood up and limped to him, leaving drops of blood behind me, and extracted my Katana. I gritted my bloody teeth as I put my blade on his throat.

"You, die… Gaara."

* * *

 **Kurota's clone's POV**

* * *

I stood up. I regenerated all of my Mana, and I ate an other bunch of chakra pills to keep me going. As a clone, my chakra didn't regenerate, in fact, it was depleting itself at a slow rate. Those pills were invaluable at the moment.

I was currently in an Instant Dimension, having left an illusion of myself to fool everyone once Kakashi had left to fight Kabuto. I felt a bit guilty about that, but only I could do what I was about to do. I put my [Zombie Slayer] title on, and raised my hand.

Only I could do it… I had to do it.

 _It should be around here… [Id Escape]._

I reappeared inside the Barrier, and looked around. There was a giant earth wall in the middle, surrounded by trees that had somehow managed to grow.

Having activated my dôjutsu, I found the Hokage.

Along with Orochimaru, who was immobilized.

And also a strange big monkey named Enma, lying on the ground.

And… uh…

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Shinigami**

...and that.

Regardless… It was best is I could take Orochimaru by surprise. Slowly, I drew my Ninjato, enhancing with wind-chakra. I focused some chakra on my feet, and dashed towards them, before slicing horizontally at Orochimaru's neck.

I decapitated him.

"Huh. That was easy." I raised my eyebrows.

"He's not dead… Kurota-kun." The Sandaime spoke.

 _Ssssss_

Snakes came out of his neck, rejoining his head, pulling it back in place. Then the wound healed itself, and it was as if nothing happened.

"Kukukuku… You cannot harm me, Kurota..."

How the hell did he do that?

"Neither can you." I replied.

 _Sssssss!_

"You really are weakened, huh?" I remarked as I knelt to heal the monkey, Enma, with a [Mind Heal].

"Hokage-sama. Tell me what to do to kill him… What are you doing?!" I exclaimed as I finally remarked a weird glowing hand with strange marks coming out of his belly, pulling other hands out Orochimaru's belly.

 _Observe._

* * *

 **Shinigami's hand**

* * *

 **Orochimaru's soul's arms**

* * *

I glanced up to the shinigami. Weirdly enough, he stared back at me. He was a translucent gaunt spectre with a demonic visage. He was much larger than an average human, possessing long, shaggy white hair, from which two red horns protruded, and purple-coloured skin. He was draped in a large white garments and carried a set of prayer beads. He also had a tantō in its mouth.

"Urgh… Thanks, kid." the monkey groaned, and extracted a sword from the Hokage's back. I quickly closed the wound with a Mind Heal.

"So, how can I kill Orochimaru?" I asked.

"No matter how badly injured his body is, he can regenerate." Enma said. "That's why, Sarutobi chose to damage his soul."

"The Shiki Fujin?" I asked.

"You know the Jutsu's name? Yeah, that's the one..."

"But if we cut Orochimaru over and over, surely he'll die at the end." I frowned. "Why not do just that? Or burn him with a fire jutsu? He can't regenerate if there's nothing left."

"Kurota..." The Hokage spoke up. He met my eyes. "With those eyes… Do you see it?"

"The Shinigami?" I assumed, "Yes, I see him."

"Shinigami?" Orochimaru repeated, eyes widening.

"Once the Shinigami is summoned… He'll take the soul of the summoner, and the soul of the target. He _has_ to."

"Uhuh?" I nodded, interested.

"If you kill Orochimaru now, the Shinigami will go after another soul. Someone else will die… one way or an other. The Shinigami always takes something."

"Why do you have to take his soul out if it's like that?" I asked.

"It is how it is..." The Hokage said. "The Shinigami will eat Orochimaru's soul. If he does not, someone dies, but they will not have their soul eaten. They will have a natural death. It will just happen."

"I see…" I whispered. "Then it means… not only I can't kill him, but you'll end up dying anyway?"

"...Yes."

I lowered my head. The Hokage was going to die… It brought tears to my eyes. He was my grand-father figure… Everyone's grand-father figure. I shook my head.

"There has to be an other way…" I mused. "There has to be something we can do! Shinigami! Can't you just stop and go away?"

The Shinigami remained impassible, fixing me with his terrifying eyes.

"Come on! Enma… Can't you transform into something useful?! I know you can!"

He shook his head. "Sorry kid… There's nothing we can do."

"Fuck!" I cursed angrily as Orochimaru cackled madly. My eyes fell on Orochimaru's soul arms. Surely… Mind and Soul aren't that different?

With a mana armored hand, I tried to grip Orochimaru's soul. It went through.

"No… This is so unfair."

I tried touching the Shinigami's hand.

This time, my hand succeeded in touching it. It sent me chills through my body. A pink light started to travel down the Shinigami's arms, towards my hand…

I jerked my hand back, as I felt my heart clenching itself. What… what was that?! I was filled with terror all of a sudden… and [Gamer's Mind] didn't do anything… I felt my heart _stop,_ and…

"Argh!" I knelt on the ground, coughing blood. "What's… happening?" I panted, the edges of my vision slowly blackening. It was like… like someone had taken my heart in his hand and squeezed.

I healed myself to not dispel, my breath slowly evening, but the fear still engraved in me.

I unconsciously staggered back, falling.

"You okay, boy?" Enma asked, catching me. "Come on. Twelve years old shouldn't look at the face of death." He took me away from the gaze of the Shinigami who followed us with his eyes.

 _Do not approach the Shinigami. Do. Not. Approach. Him._

"I'm okay… Put me down! I'm all right." I insisted. "We… we need to.. to… to go back..."

"You don't seem all right." Enma groaned, but still put me down. We went back; it felt like every step was approaching me from death.

I couldn't meet the shinigami's eyes anymore. I looked anywhere but at him.

The Hokage smiled kindly at me. "I'm relieved, Kurota-kun… That you have your own fears."

"I-I'm… I'm n-not." My voice shook.

"Orochimaru… This is the end of your ambition." the Hokage turned to the sanin, who felt like a crying little girl to me next to the Shinigami.

"Hah, that is said a lot… in these type of circumstances..." He scoffed. "My ambition will not end… you will die here."

"I will." The Hokage nodded. "And your ambition won't affect the village any longer."

"S-sarutobi." Enma gasped.

"I've ordered my subordinates, the Suna Shinobi to invade this village. You little leafs will be annihilated! Down to the women and children! Konoha will crumble!"

"I have…" I took a deep breath, still shaken. "I-I have already canceled the mind-control you put on… on the Kazekage…" I cursed myself for stuttering so much. I thought I would never speak like this again, I thought it was in the past? Why was the [Gamer's Mind] so inactive? Seriously, it's either too much or nothing at all with this skill. "Th-they're leaving now, Konoha won't be at war with Suna."

"You damn brat! You think that will stop Oto from spreading destruction on your dear village?!" Orochimaru screamed angrily, eyes widened and injected with blood.

It looked cute, compared to the Shinigami to my left, who was still fixing me with his eyes. I shivered.

"And… I'm just a… just a clone. The original is after Gaara, your precious weapon." I panted and fell on my ass again, even though I was several meters away of the Shinigami.

Enma positioned himself between me and the Shinigami, which took a great deal of pressure off me.

"Hah! You're just a scared little brat in the end." Orochimaru scowled.

"But he is standing before you, isn't he?" The Sandaime smiled. "This is the will of the fire. Orochimaru. True strength is not in mastery of Ninjutsu. I was never able to teach you..."

"Boring speech." Orochimaru smirked, but I could tell he was worried.

"For you, who is obsessed with Jutsus, this is the appropriate punishment… To steal all of your Jutsu!" He shouted, and turned to us. "Do your best to kill him once I'm done."

"Y-yes, Sarutobi." Enma nodded, but I shook my head is denial.

"I can't go back anywhere near t-that… thing."

"Kurota. Listen to me." The Hokage addressed me. "With me dead, Danzô will come after you. You have… to associate yourself with a clan. Several of them are ready to protect you from Danzô, especially after what you've done today. Enma, you can form a contract with young Kurota if he wishes so."

The shinigami's hand took the tanto off his mouth, and raised it.

"It… can't be… Orochimaru stared at the hand, scared for the first time. "Stop it!"

"Good luck." he smiled to all three of us. "Shiki Fuin!" The Sandaime yelled as the Shinigami cut the arm of Orochimaru's soul, and it splashed into the Hokage's body like water in a puddle.

"My arms won't move..." Orochimaru groaned, his arms now hanging by his sides, slowly being covered by necrosis.

"You won't be able to use either arm. They are completely sealed… You no longer have any jutsu."

"Raaah!" Enma shouted a war-cry as he transformed his arm into a spear and bolted towards Orochimaru, who sidestepped easily.

 _Run._

"Move… move!" I shouted to my body repeatedly performing Mind Heals to try to purge the fear status effect that [Gamer's Mind] was ignoring. I took a step forward, flexed my legs, and finally dashed at Orochimaru.

 _Run…_

 _Far away!_

 _TOO CLOSE!_

My shaky hands dropped my Ninjato, and I fell on the ground.

"You old man! GIVE ME BACK MY ARMS!" He yelled to the Sandaime whose body was now lying on the roof, his face smiling to the sky. Enma tried hitting the sannin again, but he was way too slow.

"You're foolish, Orochimaru… They've been completely destroyed. My apprentice. Let's meet in another world."

And his soul was eaten by the Shinigami, who, not once, took his eyes off me.

I stood up on my shaky legs, and tried to take a step towards Orochimaru.

Instantly, my heart got squeezed again, and I staggered away from the Shinigami.

"Gwaaa…" Orochimaru whined, and his eyes fell on me. Even though the Hokage was dead, the shinigami was still there, slowly eating his soul.

"I'll at least get to kill you miserable clone!" Orochimaru yelled and his neck extended towards me, his mouth opening to let out a snake whose mouth also opened to point a blade towards me.

"F-fuck no!" I shouted, and cast [ID Create].

The Shinigami faded, Orochimaru faded, the barrier faded… I was now alone on a roof of a village. No one else around.

No war.

I let out a long sigh of relief as I felt the pressure decrease immediately.

"Oh crap… What the hell was that?" I said to no one, my voice finally back to normal. "I was so useless..."

* * *

 **Original Kurota's POV**

* * *

"… Excuse me, can you repeat that? It sounded as if you told me…"

"Don't kill him."

"Huh? My ears are really malfunctioning today. What… what did you say?" I insisted, in a manner very Johny-like.

"Don't kill him."Naruto repeated.

"And why the hell not?" I snapped, eyes wide, making Naruto wince.

"Just… look at his eyes! Haven't you seen those eyes before?"

I looked at Gaara's eyes, who was staring at Naruto's back. The blonde bastard had kicked me in the face at the last moment, preventing me from killing Gaara.

Gaara's eyes…

"Those are the same eyes you had before. The eyes of someone alone." I admitted.

"If I didn't met you and Iruka-sensei, and Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan, I could have turned like this. It's not his fault if he had a demon inside him! It's not his fault his seal suck so much he hears Shukaku's voice every day…"

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"I talked to him, two weeks ago, at the hospital. All his life, people hated him, tried to assassinate him. Even the people he trusted turned against him. Isn't it their fault he turned like that? All he wants in the end, is to make some friends." Naruto pleaded.

"That is true." I nodded.

"Yeah!" He smiled to me. "I think he deserves a second chance. So… Don't kill him?"

"Oh no, I'm going to kill him." I said.

"W-what? But you said… You understand that..."

"Naruto." I cut him, "You're trying to play on my feelings. That is never going to work in this context."

"What? Why not?"

"Because you are not allowed such feelings of pity towards a monster like him – someone so powerful – when your village is AT WAR."

That shut him up. He opened his mouth again, only to close it.

"This is not just a battle, Naruto. The Kazekage was there, he attacked my father. This means that after today there will be other battles against Suna. We are at WAR with Suna.

Even if he was the nicest guy I knew, I'd still kill him. Because he's from Suna, and I'm from Konoha. That is war."

I paused to let that sink in.

"Now, knowing that, can you honestly ask me again to spare his life? Him? A Jinchuuriki, a weapon that Suna will use again and again to kill hundreds of Konoha shinobi!"

"He's not a weapon!" Naruto snapped, taking a step towards me, fists clenched.

"But he'll be used as one..." my voice faded into a whisper. "If you fight for Konoha in this war, Naruto… You too, will be used as a ..."

"Don't say it." He warned his eyes becoming red.

I fell quiet, and closed my eyes.

"Convince me then. Give me arguments. Use logic. Give me a solid reason to not kill him now."

Silence.

I smiled sadly. "I'm sorry Naruto. I'm on your side… Konoha's side. But this is reality. This is war… And Gaara is on Suna's side. A guy with so much power… We can't afford to leave him alive."

I started walking towards Gaara again slowly, one step after an other. I stopped half-way, besides Naruto.

"If you tell me not to kill him, Naruto… Then I won't. It's your choice."

I continued as he remained silent behind me. I reached Gaara. He was barely alive looking up at me with scared eyes, still missing an arm. For the first time, he looked like a twelve year old boy, terrified. I waited an other few seconds.

Slowly, I placed my Katana on Gaara's throat.

"Wait! Don't !"

I stopped, turning towards the voice.

Temari and Kankuro landed in front of me. Where were Sasuke and Sakura?

"Don't do it!"

"If Naruto wasn't able to convince me, you sure as hell won't." I shook my head, maintaining my Katana on Gaara's throat and preparing to unleash some psychokinesis on them. The Suna Jinchuuriki had turned his eyes towards his siblings, full of hope.

"Wait!" Naruto caught my arm before I finished the movement that would have killed Gaara. "At least listen to what they have to say."

At this moment, Sasuke and Sakura arrived, with Pakkun in Sakura's arms.

What confused me is that they landed by Temari and Kankuro's side.

"Good news!" Sasuke smirked. "Kakashi informed Pakkun that we're ordered not to disturb Suna as they are leaving the village. Apparently the Kazekage was manipulated into siding with Oto… That means Suna is not our enemy! We're not at war!"

"We're … not?" I repeated, turning my eyes to Sakura, who nodded happily, and then to Pakkun.

"We're not." he confirmed, smiling softly.

"Oh thank god!" I gasped in relief as I let my body fall on the ground into a sitting position.

"Haha… So you're not going to kill him?" Naruto asked, sitting besides me.

"No," I admitted, frowning. "Since you want to give him a second chance. They should get him away from my sight as fast as they can though, before I change my mind."

"Gaara!" Temari dashed to her little brother, followed by Kankuro.

"… Why?" The Jinchuuriki asked her, confused.

"He' dying…" She turned to me, tears in her eyes. "You did this to him! Can't you help him? Heal him!"

Apparently Sakura saw the look on my face and sensed we had reached my limits, because she knelt besides Gaara and healed his life threatening injuries. Meanwhile Naruto took me way, laughing awkwardly.

Seriously… This was the psychopath that took off Shikamaru's arm. I was _not_ going to heal him! And Sakura… Just because she knew how to heal, there was no need to heal everyone!

Well… It was true that I cut off Gaara's arm too… An eye for an eye, huh?

"Tch." I grunted and turned away. At least Johny was not here to see that… He would have gone nuts, the bastard.

"Hey Kuro." Naruto said.

"What?"

"You're a good guy, even if you're a teme sometimes."

"You're not half bad yourself… Even if you're still a dobe." I laughed, and Sasuke smirked.

"Teme!" He tried to reach me with a punch, but fell on the ground, exhausted. "How… how did you do all of that anyway. Your jutsus."

"And what happened to you hand?" Sasuke asked, looking at my missing fingers.

Now that was an other source of worry. What exactly did I show today?

Sakura saw my miraculous regeneration… I'll have to ask her not to tell anyone. She'll probably agree, since I saved her life and she respected me a lot now, but she'll worry a lot too.

I've used Psyckokinesis a lot… The gates too, but that was okay It think… Lee uses them too. [ID Create]? But that's nothing new… I did it against Lee. The Mind Heal could maybe be passed as medical ninjutsu? My inventory too, maybe I could say it was a storage Fuinjutsu or something like that.

Call it an intuition, but I predicted I'll have to reveal the full extent of my powers soon. I decided I'd tell my family about it anyway.

Still… The worst was probably Aeris.

Wait… Where was Aeris?

* * *

 **Aeris's POV**

* * *

Kurota was badly injured… Aeris hoped he would be okay after fighting such a powerful opponent.

"Girl… What are ya?" The giant toad asked, puffing some smoke at her.

Aeris raised her hand, and the smoke was dispersed easily. She did not like smoke, it made her form somewhat unstable. Brun loved to poke her with his smoke, so she learned to avoid it now.

"I'm Kurota's summon!" Aeris said happily. "I don't think he wants me to talk to others though."

"Why not?" The little toad that was sitting on the head of the gigantic one asked. "Is he restraining you? I knew it! Ever since I first saw him, I knew he was a bully."

"He's not!" Aeris protested. "Kurota's a wonderful boy, he's the reason of my existence. I would do anything for him!"

"Why did ya make a contract with the brat?" The giant toad asked curiously.

Aeris laughed. "Kurota feeds me. Because of him, I'm not sleeping anymore. I owe him everything, and I became a part of him so I we could always be together." She clasped her hands against her mouth. "Oh no… I don't think I was supposed to say that! Bad Aeris!" She lamented.

"She's cute, pops." The little toad laughed, and the giant one rolled his eyes.

"Ya're not a normal creature. What-" He began, but Aeris put her hands on her ears.

"Hiii!"

And with that, she dispelled herself.

* * *

 **Original Kurota's POV**

* * *

"Really?"

"No."

"Come on Sakura…"

"I said no!"

"But I saved us! The least you could do is keep quiet about that."

"And endanger your life?!" Sakura snapped. "Several of your organs were destroyed, Kurota. You have to tell the hospital, or I will! I won't let you kill yourself!"

I let out a sigh of frustration. "But I'm not! I'm all right, I swear!"

"Oh yeah?" She poked my belly, causing me to wince in pain. "You're not okay at all! I'm sorry but we have to tell the hospital. Kurenai-sensei will kill you if you keep that to yourself."

She took my wrist and started dragging me around the street. "She'll kill me anywayyyy..."

We had come back to Konoha after the battle was over, and Naruto and Sasuke had gone their own ways. I had gained a few levels, due to the quest of Konoha' defense, which rewarded me with lots of XP and a title. Unfortunately, I failed a few bonus objectives, like 'kill Gaara' or 'kill Orochimaru'.

"Okay! Okay! I can walk on my own!" I sighed as we reached the Hospital. "Just, let me, uh… let me handle it. Okay?"

"Sure." She crossed her arms and waited.

"You can leave now, you know." I informed her.

"Nice try."

"Ugh!" I threw my hands in the air. "Fine, stay if you want!"

"Hey wait…" She frowned. "Isn't that your clone over there?

"Huh? It is." I nodded as I recognized my clone. His back was turned to us, staring at something in the hospital. We walked towards him, and I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, how did it go for… you…" My voice broke as I noticed the look on his face.

He was crying.

"What… wha-?" I stuttered, completely caught by surprise. I've never cried since I got the Gamer power. What could possibly…

A pit opened in my stomach. I turned my gaze to the direction my clone was staring at.

There, lying on the ground between other corpses and covered by a white sheet, was the burned, incinerated body of my father, completely black. I wouldn't have recognized him if I didn't have [Observe]. A little further away, my mother was laying on a bed as two medics was moving it frantically to an other room. She missed her right leg, her right arm had been crushed to the point it couldn't be called an arm anymore, and her back was bent in an unnatural way. The right side of her body was also burned to a lesser degree, disfiguring her, and her skin previously so soft was now filled with either chars or scorches or completely missing.

The smell of burned skin and flesh came back to me.

* * *

 **A/N: Well... That happened. Hopefully it wasn't overdramatic. I'm bad at these things.**

 **You may have noticed that I didn't do a 'review reply section on the previous chapters. That's because there are too much reviews to do that. I'll probably still answer important questions though.**

 **Thanks for reading, and for the support.**


	45. Chapter 42

**I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

* * *

 **A/N: Please point out any grammatical mistakes, bla bla bla... Man, not having a beta reader makes me nervous each time I release a chapter.**

* * *

 **Three hours later...**

 **Kurota's clone's POV**

* * *

I was in the hospital, standing beside my mother's bed. She was sleeping, after the surgery she had, she'd need it, bless her...

"We're sorry." The old doctor said, bowing his head. "We did all we could."

"My father…?"

Kurenai spoke up. "Apparently… he used a suicide kinjutsu to… to save your mother."

"… save my mother."

Her body was a mess. Her right leg was missing… What was left of her right arm and her right shoulder was either crushed to the point amputation would be the only solution, or completely burned.

That... was… saving...?

"Her global nervous system was severely damaged as well. She..." The doctor seemed to search for words. "We did our best, but her back was so… Her spinal column was so damaged, she won't be able to move, or even talk when she'll wake up. She'll be completely paralyzed, and..." He took a deep breath. " She'll probably die in a few weeks time. Days for the child..."

"The… child…?"

"Y-you didn't know?" The doctor gasped, as Kurenai closed her eyes but remained silent behind him. "I am very sorry. Your mother is pregnant."

"Pregnant..."

"Since a week now… She won't be able to give birth, I'm afraid." The doctor continued. "It's… It would be for the best if we make her abort… Or, at this point..."

"Chiro-san!" Kurenai put her hand on the doctor's shoulder. "Thank you for your help. I'll continue, you can leave."

"Very well… My sincere condolences. I knew your parents, they were wonderful people..." He sighed, bowed again to me, and left, mumbling some last words before departing. "If only _she_ was here. She could have..."

Silence fell over the room. Outside, we could hear the cries of people who lost someone. Another victim of the battle. Shouts, tears, denial, anger, sadness…

I felt sadness…

That was all.

All the rest was suppressed, sucked, destroyed, and brainwashed by [Gamer's Mind].

Should I be angry? Should I be denying? Those were the natural steps of mourning, right? Why did I skip right over to acceptation?

Or perhaps it was the depression step? I didn't know.

But my mother wasn't dead. Perhaps I could heal her, perhaps I could help the child… My little brother, or sister. The reality of _that_ hadn't hit me yet. I had to protect them, to do my best for them. If I used Mind Heal on my mother every hour, she could survive and it would provide her the necessary stamina to sustain a pregnancy. It would help her survive longer and would give me time to figure out a solution.

There was still hope.

My father, though…

I closed my eyes.

" _..."_

" _Come on Kuro-chan. It's just an exam!"_

" _Ah, I didn't train, I didn't train! I am sooo dead… I'm still not able to do the bunshin jutsu correctly..."_

" _Son! Remember! The key is confidence! But it's okay if you fail too, we won't be mad at you. Just be yourself!"_

" _..."_

 _I failed… How am I going to face my parents…_

 _I opened the door of our shop, anticipating the reaction._

" _Son."_

 _Dad looked at me, a serious expression on his face. He already knew._

"… _Another game of Ninja Warriors II?" He smirked as he threw me a gamepad._

 _I grinned widely. "Yes!"_

" _..."_

" _Do what you like to do, son. Who cares if you can't be a genin? You'll just be a super legendary tailor like your mom!"_

"…"

My eyes were closed.

So why… were my cheeks wet?

"Hey!" Someone interrupted my thoughts.

I blinked, tears dropping on the ground. I noticed that arms had wrapped around me in a hug while I was dreaming.

"A-ah… I'm fine, Kurenai-sensei…" I softly got out of her arms. I wanted to be left alone.

"Kuro-chan..." That word caused a pain in my heart somehow.

"Don't call me that," I said as I turned to the source of the interruption.

My clone closed the door of the room and walked to me. He looked pretty bad, traces of tears on his cheeks and his eyes looked like a dead fishes. I wondered if I looked like that too right now.

"You have..." I began.

"Fifty." He answered.

"Okay… Okay." I took a deep breath and turned to Kurenai-sensei.

"Kurenai-sensei… can you leave the room, please? It's important."

"Of course." She nodded and put a hand on my shoulder to show her support before leaving.

The door closed softly behind her.

"Let's do it." My clone's voice shook as he took out a storage scroll, laid it on the ground and did a hand-seal.

With a small ' _poof_ ', fifty soul stones materialized on top of the scroll.

"I also have a Low Intermediate one… from the boss." My clone said, pointing to a bigger soul stone on top of the others.

My clone and I decided to ignore our little rule about not creating Instant Dimensions with monsters in it for the moment. We needed the gems, so my clone went to hunt Zombies to farm them.

"Yeah. Okay..." I nodded, closed the curtains with Psychokinesis and we took a soul gem each.

We raised our hand to touch Mom.

"Mind Heal. Mind Heal. Mind Heal. Mind Heal..."

Twenty-five times each, we cast the skill. We had to pause to meditate because our mana pools couldn't sustain the skill.

A green light lit up the room, engulfing Mom's body. We also used the Low Intermediate one at the end.

It grew her hair back. That was all.

 **[Mind Healing: Being's Restoration]'s level has risen by two!**

"Dammit… Dammit!" I punched the ground with my fist. Her paralysis and her missing leg were not status effects… They were conditions. Hence not curable with a Mind heal.

Even her arm, which was unrecognizable, didn't gain back its usual shape. It was a status effect, so eventually, I was going to be able to rid of it if I trained Mind Heal, but at the moment my skill level was too low.

Even more worrying, with all these Mind Heals, she still didn't wake up. That meant she was in a deep coma.

She seemed so peaceful. How was I going to tell her dad was dead when she woke up?

 _If she wakes up..._

We stayed in the room, lost in out thoughts for long minutes before I finally said to my clone:

"You stay here. I'll… ask something."

"Sure." He blinked and pulled up a chair to sit beside Mom.

I nodded and got out of the room. I needed to find that old doctor, Chiro. He had said something, before, that caught my attention.

I easily found him with my Dôjutsu. He was in the main corridor, talking to Sakura.

"Ah, Farasuke-san." He greeted me cautiously. "May I run a few more tests on you… I'm very sorry to trouble you, with what you're going through, but Sakura here tells me you have..." He looked to Sakura uncertainly.

"S-several organs missing… stomach and all..." She met my eyes. She was sorry and had that sympathetic expression… It made me grit my teeth.

"Sure." I shrugged.

The old man knelt to my level and performed some scanning jutsu on my whole body, frowning.

"Hmm." He grunted, scratching his little beard before standing straight. "Your body is in optimal condition… except for your fingers, obviously." He nodded to my injured hand. "No organ missing." He turned to Sakura, visibly upset. "Do not waste my time, young girl. We have other patients to heal. For now, you can take a break, but we'll need every medic-nins we can get." And with that, he left us.

"...He's your teacher?"I asked eventually.

"Y-yes, b-but…" She gasped, looking at my left hand. It still missed two fingers. "How? You're not a clone..."

"You must have imagined things," I said coldly.

"I did not!" She protested and poked my belly as she cast a basic scanning jutsu. "That's… They are intact. But, what I saw back then…?"

"Are you done?" I asked, and started to feel a bit guilty. She was worried for me. "Sorry, I'm fine Sakura. Thank you for your concern, but I need to ask something to the doctor."

And with that, I left her and went to the doctor.

* * *

 **Kurota's Clone's POV**

 **Flashback, 2 hours earlier.**

* * *

 _I sniffed. I kept thinking about my parents. Who could have done something like that?_

 _The worst was that it probably didn't matter. Konoha was battling against Suna and Oto together, we were bound to suffer casualties._

'The one responsible has to be from Oto.' _I thought. '_ Since the Kazekage had already ordered his shinobi to retreat.'

 _Why did I care anyway? It wasn't going to change the fact that my father was dead._

 _I shook my head and looked at the original. We were both inside an Instant Dimension, and he had been sleeping in one of the hospital's bed for thirty minutes now._

 _A multicolored light came out of him and engulfed his body. With my Dojutsu, I could see that it regenerated all his organs, grew back his two fingers, and cured whatever status effects or conditions were left. Conveniently, the light was also invisible to normal eyes._

 _Before I knew it, it was already over._

So I have to sleep at least thirty minutes for this thing to work? And it doesn't even take three seconds to completely heal such serious injuries. That light was really overpowered. If only I could find a way to seal it somehow to use it on others…

 _I woke him up, and he opened his eyes. Like always, no dream or nightmare haunted our nights._

" _It worked..." He mused, glancing to his status screen, checking the status effects._

" _Yeah." I nodded. "Like always. Now… You know what to do." I drew my Ninjato, and poured wind chakra in it._

 _He sighed, and tended his left hands to me, forming the hand-seal which exposed his two previously missing fingers._

 _With a rapid movement, I brought my blade down and cut them. We needed him to miss those two fingers because the injury was public and seen by many people. The missing organs, however, were just known by Sakura, so we could heal them._

" _Aaaaaaaouch!" He winced. "That hurts!"_

" _Really?" I raised an eyebrow._

 _He sighed._

"… _No... Not really."_

* * *

 **Back to Original Kurota's POV, Present.**

* * *

"Doctor. Excuse me if I'm taking a bit of your time again," I began nervously, "but earlier, you mumbled something like 'if only she was here, she could have...'. What did you mean by that?"

I fixed him with my big wet eyes. I must have inherited my mother's sad puppy eyes look because he looked away and sighed.

"Your mother… We did everything we could in those hours of surgery, believe me, kid. But if we had someone more competent… Maybe we could get rid of the paralysis of your mother, and even get her arm back into shape."

"Who?" I asked immediately. "Who would be competent enough?"

"I only know of one person possessing such skill in medical ninjutsu and knowledge."

He sighed again, shaking his head with a sad look in his eyes.

"Konoha's slug princess… and the third sannin, Tsunade. Unfortunately, she retired and left Konoha. She's training an apprentice."

"She retired? Why?" I questioned, but then I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. So if we brought her back here, she would be able to save lots of lives, my mother's included, wouldn't she?"

"Alas, it's not that simple." He adopted a melancholic expression. "Tsunade… I was the one who taught her everything. In three years time, she had already surpassed me. She's a genius in the field of medicine, but… well, something happened to her. I respect her, so I'm afraid I will not tell you the details of her personal life, but I can tell you why she wouldn't be able to help even if she was here."

"Why?" I urged him, hopelessness filling me.

"Haemophobia." He sighed sadly, his eyes pained. "The fear of blood."

My eyes widened. That was all? If she couldn't heal people because of her fear of blood, maybe _I_ could help her. Maybe I could cure her? All I needed to know was if Hemophobia was a condition or a status effect. If it was the latter, I could probably cure it with a bit of training in my Mind Heal and a big soul stone.

If it was the former… Nothing could be done. But I suspected it wouldn't be a condition since hemophobia was supposedly curable via talk therapy or hypnosis.

You couldn't regrow an arm, hence why it was a condition. It was different with hemophobia.

"Do you know where she is?" I finally asked.

"No."

"Do you know someone that could know where she is?" I insisted.

"No." He shook his head. "Perhaps Jiraiya knows more. She's been missing for years now."

"I see. Thank you for your time doctor."

"You're welcome. Take care of yourself, young man." He nodded sympathetically, and I left him to go back to my mother's room.

"You're back already?" My clone asked as I entered the room.

"Say," I asked as I pulled another chair to sit beside him. "You won't dispel for a while, huh?"

"As long as I have Chakra pills, yeah." He shrugged. "I can also meditate to stop the chakra degeneration."

"I have a mission for you." I smiled. Even if my heart still ached painfully, a tiny light of hope had appeared to lit up the darkness.

* * *

 **Kurota's Clone's POV**

 **An hour later.**

* * *

I sighed as I verified the content of my traveling bag. Everything seemed good, I had food, enough chakra pills to last a week, and the original could still put some in his inventory so I could access it.

A clone was able to pull things out of the inventory, but he couldn't store them in it. So he was going to store other things inside it for me to use on my trip.

I didn't know if I would dispel due to some kind of hidden rule for Kage Bunshins, but it wouldn't be difficult to send back another clone to where I was, should it happen. Even if there were issues with my long existence as a shadow clone, I suspected they would be negated by [Gamer's Mind] or [Gamer's Body].

That was, is they didn't fail me like they did against the Shinigami.

I created an Instant Dimension and started walking out of the village so that nobody would see me leaving. I hoped I could find Tsunade and cure her hemophobia to convince her to come back to the village to help my mother as soon as possible.

I had gone to the library earlier to research Tsunade's whereabouts and asked various Shinobi. No one could answer me. So I would have to search for her myself, town by town, just with a picture of her I had borrowed from a library book. It would have to do.

As I walked in the completely quiet Dimension, my thoughts drifted once again to my father.

* * *

 **Kurota's POV**

* * *

"Naruto? Are you okay?"

I had been walking in the streets of Konoha, towards my house. My clone had warned me that the house was a mess and I 'd need to clean it up. I had left a clone near Mom that would regularly heal her and look after her. It would also train the Mind Heal skill.

As I was walking, I came across Naruto, who was sitting on a bench by himself.

"Jiji." He groaned, looking down. "He… He's dead."

And my clone couldn't do anything to prevent it.

"Yeah." I sighed as I sat down next to him.

We stayed silent for a bit. It was awfully quiet around us.

"He was a bit like your grandfather, wasn't he?" I asked suddenly.

"...Something like that."

Silence.

"But he died a hero." He continued, looking up at the sky for the first time, tears rolling down his cheeks."He protected the village from Orochimaru."

"He did." I agreed. What a respectable old man.

Could my father be considered a hero, too?

"My father died too." I blurted out suddenly. "Protecting my mother. She still lost an arm and got paralyzed though."

That caused Naruto to turn to me, and I suddenly felt uneasy under his gaze.

Silence once again fell upon us. It seemed he didn't know what to say, or perhaps he was still thinking about the Hokage. I started feeling uncomfortable.

 _Why did I have to say something like that? Kurota, you idiot._

"I uh… I'll go home now. Need to clean it up." From what my clone told me, the inside was in pretty bad shape. People had fought in our shop apparently. "You probably want to be left alone anyway..." I said awkwardly as I stood up. That look on his face, I didn't want to see it.

I left him. Soon, however, I heard footsteps behind me.

"There's no..." I cut myself and shook my head. He probably wanted to be alone. I sure did. So why was he following me? I sent him a questioning glance.

Naruto shrugged, and I sighed again. At least he wasn't looking at me like before.

I continued walking regardless. I needed to get back home and clean the mess… That's what my parents would have wanted. To continue running the place. Repair the shop. Move on.

On the way, we crossed Tenten.

"Oh man..." She looked down.

"What's up Tenten?" Naruto asked as I continued walking.

"My shop has been completely destroyed. I have no place to live anymore." She groaned miserably, kicking a pebble away.

"I know the feeling," Naruto said sadly. "My home too has been destroyed. And nobody wants to help me rebuild it."

I stopped walking, looking towards my house, eyes blue. Once cleaned, my house would be… my house would feel incredibly lonely. Too much space. Perhaps it was best if I was not left alone in this house? What if…? Could I …?

I turned to them.

"Uh…" I hesitated. "If you… uh… help me clean it up, you can sleep at my house." I proposed.

There was a silence as they looked at me, surprised.

"I… I mean… since… you know… There's place now… U-uh..." I looked down, embarrassed.

They kept staring at me. Naruto whispered something to Tenten, whose eyes widened and her expression turned sympathetic. Ugh.

"Are you sure?" She asked softly. "I mean, I would be happy to, but…well… It seems… uh… I don't want to… You know… ?" She turned to Naruto, looking for help.

"Y-yeah…" Naruto nodded awkwardly.

I suddenly understood. Someone who had just lost his parents wouldn't have offered other people to move in his house because it would hurt his feelings to see his parents be kinda… replaced, or something like that. That was probably why they were freaked out.

However, I never thought about it like that… My father was gone, my mother stuck at the hospital. So there was more place home, which was why I offered them to move in, since they didn't have any anymore and were good friends of mine. It was logical.

It would also make my home less depressing.

Was that strange? Did I screw up somewhere?

"Ah, It's okay if you don't want to..." I declared. "I just… It wouldn't bother me, you know? Since you guys need a place to sleep."

"I'd…I'd like that." Naruto eventually nodded.

"I… But… Well, okay, if you're sure." Tenten eventually accepted.

"I'm sure," I confirmed. "Come on, my house is a mess."

And so we walked to my home, where we cleaned up everything relatively quickly, thanks to Naruto's clones.

The majority of the shop's clothes were ruined. It would be a while before we opened again. On the other hand, the kitchen remained in a perfect state, and the chambers upstairs hadn't been to messed up, even if there was a hole in my bedroom's roof. I prevented anyone from entering my parent's room, wanting to leave it as it was. My mother would find it in its exact previous state once she healed.

It was only once we cleaned everything, and laid futons downstairs in the shop part of the house that I finally remembered something crucial.

 _Johny… and Brun. Where the hell are they?_

* * *

 **Brun's POV**

 **Three hours earlier.**

* * *

Elementals shared a deep connection with their summoner. They were able to sense their summoner's emotions.

However, since Kuro summoned him, Brun hadn't felt any particularly strong emotions.

It was why, when Brun was hit by the sudden despair, sadness, sorrow; every emotion in Kuro's storm of feelings, he fell down and was so shocked he stopped moving.

"Fire-san? Fire-san!" He heard someone shout.

The battle had just ended minutes ago, and he had stayed at the guys in robes' domain to ensure Hina was safe. They had been treating him like an important guest.

For some reason, they had decided to call him Firesan, since he didn't give them his name.

"M-mom..." Brun cried on the ground. "D-dad…"

"What?" the guy asked. "You have parents? Who summoned you?"

Didn't he see he was in pain? Why was he asking such questions now?

Brun let out a scream to try to get the emotions out. It didn't work. He screamed again, fire tears dropping on the ground.

"Wh-what's happening?" Hina asked him. She had tried to talk to him before, but Brun had done his best to keep his mouth shut, even though he kept an eye on her.

He stopped screaming, suddenly having an idea. If he went back to sleep… It wouldn't hurt anymore.

Brun let out a last whine as his body's fire slowly extinguished, dispelling himself.

* * *

 **Kurota's POV**

 **Present.**

* * *

I was back in an Instant Dimension, where I had left Brun with Johny. Neither was there.

"Summon Brun," I said.

Brun came into life in his spirit form.

" _K-kuro… It hurt so much..."_ he sighed. _"Dad and mom..."_

"I know," I said soothingly.

" _But…_ _It doesn't hurt anymore."_ He gave me a little smile. _"Not as much."_

"I, uh… I have accepted it. I guess."

' _After five hours?'_ I couldn't help but think to myself.

It still hurt to think of my father, but it was slowly, but surely, being drowned away by something else.

"More importantly, Brun. Where is Johny?" I asked.

" _A-ah..."_ He smiled awkwardly, looking anywhere but me. _"Y-you see… Uh..."_

"Bruuuuun…?"

" _H-He sort of, like… escaped, so I had to kinda… uh, kill him, a little bit."_

I gaped at him. "You – You killed him?!"

" _I-I had no choice! He had broken out of your ropes and shattered the dimension. I had to do something!"_

"Shattered the dimension?" I repeated. "So you killed him, and dispelled yourself, right? So no one would see you."

" _U-uuuuh..."_ He looked away again.

"Bruuuuuuun…?"

" _I-I thought, since I was there, I could help a little! H-Hina's family were assaulted by bad guys, so I had the idea of going after them and protected Hina."_

"… You protected the Hyûgas? You fought against the Suna and Oto shinobi in the open?"

" _W-well… Yes. But the Hyûga didn't suffer any deaths because_ I _was there!"_

I took my head in my hands. It was worst than I thought. He fought in the open, protecting the Hyûgas. They were probably going to want to find him again, and it would inform Konoha, Suna and Oto of the elementals existence. Not that they would know how to make a contract with them, but… it would provoke numerous reactions in the ninja world, I was sure of it. There would surely be some investigations, and not only from Konoha.

"Well… at least they have no way to connect you to me. But, to think that Johny is dead..."

" _I'm sorry."_

"No, don't be. It's good riddance actually." I sighed, shaking my head. "Are you sure he's dead? Since he was a ghost."

Brun shrugged. _"He left a big stone behind him, so I think he's dead."_

"A soul stone?"

" _Dunno. It should be around here, in the real world."_

"[ID Escape]," I said as I raised my hand, breaking the dimension.

We appeared and Brun led me to a small back alley. True to his words, a soul stone was laying on the burnt ground. I picked it up.

' _Observe.'_

* * *

 **[Low Advanced Soul Stone – Rank: Rare ]**

 **A crystal created by integrating a powerful spirit.**

 **Useful for many things.**

* * *

That was going to be useful if my clone needed more power to cure Tsunade's hemophobia. Or to cure my mother's arm. I stored it inside my inventory.

Now what?

"How did the Hyûgas react to your presence?" I asked Brun.

" _They were surprised at first, but when they realized I was on their side they protected me from the water. Then when the battle was over they treated me very well, but they kept asking questions so I kept my mouth shut."_

"Did they mention me?"

" _Nope!"_ He grinned happily.

"Good." I nodded as I started walking back to my house. It was dusk already.

With any luck, the Hyûgas would now focus on Brun and not too much on me. This whole thing could actually become good for me!

Still, with the Hokage's protection gone, I needed to associate myself with a clan. Whether it was through becoming an honorary member or through an engagement, I needed the protection as fast as possible. One of those probably led to the other anyway.

The Hyûgas were probably the most promising when it came to offering protection since they were the most powerful clan of Konoha. They also genuinely wanted Hinata-chan and me to start a relationship. Something I felt really uneasy about since she also liked Naruto.

More than that… I was twelve years old. I didn't want to commit to marriage that early!

Nevertheless, I needed protection. Maybe they would protect me if we started dating without engagement?

 _But she likes Naruto._

 _Doesn't she like you, too?_

 _I don't know._

 _And what about me?_

I sighed. I'd have to think about that later, maybe ask Kurenai-sensei for advice. Or Tenten. I suck at social matters.

I arrived at my house and was surprised to smell cooking. I sniffed the air for a moment and recognized.

 _Yakisoba._

I opened the door.

"Gah! Naruto, you put too much soy sauce! Let me do it!"

"Come on, let me help! It can't be much different from ramen!"

"I-idiot! It had nothing to do with ramen! And you put too much salt!"

"Cause you have to taste it! Tch." he pouted, left the kitchen and finally saw me. "Hey Kuro. You came back, we were almost finished."

" _I_ was almost finished! You just bounced around me while I was cooking." Tenten's voice protested from the kitchen before she came out as well. She wore a cooking apron, probably hers. She must have gone back to her house to collect some of her stuff.

"…"

" _Fusoku, you idiot!" Mom swore. "You put too much salt again! How many times need I tell you we don't need that much!"_

" _But you can't taste it if you don't add enough of it!" Dad protested._

" _If you can taste it, then there's too much of it!" she replied, hitting him with a frying pan._

"…"

"Kuro?" Naruto said. "You all right?"

"Y-Yeah." I tried to smile at him. "Is it ready yet?"

"Yep." Tenten nodded and took my hand. She led me to the table and made me sit down. She did the same with Naruto.

"Itadakimasu!" She said as she sat down herself.

As I tried Tenten's cooking, I instantly knew that she wasn't on Mom's level, but I enjoyed it regardless.

Cooking. A skill I could have learned long ago, but decided not to.

It just felt better knowing that Mom cooked it.

As I was eating, I was surprised to feel glad I didn't have to learn the skill.

"Eat up, Naruto." Tenten said gently.

I looked up. Naruto was staring at his plate.

He sighed and took a bit.

"Oh, itsh delicioush." Naruto praised, mouth full of noodles. "Not on se level of Ichiraku'sh ramensh, but..."

"Swallow before speaking!" Tenten reprimanded before sighing. "Jeez, you're so rude. Kurota and I will need to teach you some manners." She said firmly as the blonde was having trouble with his food. "Right?" She turned to me.

Naruto had been alone all his life. Nobody taught him the basic stuff before being part of team 7.

Tenten had also grown up alone, but at an orphanage, so she had had some people to teach her.

Naruto didn't have that chance since people feared the Kyûbi. Only the Hokage and Iruka had been there for him. And now the Hokage was gone.

"Good idea." I simply nodded to her.

"Since we're going to live together," she continued while Naruto took another tentative bite. She was trying to make conversation, I noticed since both Naruto and I felt a bit down. "I let my sensei know. Naruto, did you tell Kakashi-sensei that you'd be living here from now on?"

"Swallow," I warned before he could open his mouth.

He swallowed and answered. "No, I'll do that tomorrow. But, I thought it was only this night? We're really going to live together from now on?"

"If you want to, yes." I smiled, shrugging to show it didn't bother me. "As long as needed. I suppose I'll tell Kurenai-sensei too."

He returned my smile and went back to eating silently.

"We'll need to establish what everyone does." Tenten continued expertly. "I know how to cook. What about you guys?"

Naruto and I looked at each other, blinking. Then the blonde coughed awkwardly, so I answered, "Uh, no. We don't know how to cook. But I can wash dishes super fast at least."

"Well, I guess I can do the cooking." She sighed, resigned. "I'll teach you when we'll have time on our hands."

"I can clean." Naruto raised his hand. "With my clones, it'll be easy."

We continued chatting as we ate our Yakisoba. Overall, the mood was a depressing because of the death of the Hokage, and my thoughts kept drifting to my parents.

It was weird, how things had turned out, but definitely better than if I had been alone.

Had I been alone, I would have stopped eating, since eating alone wasn't much fun. It felt better, having those two home.

After all, I didn't need to sleep or eat. I even had a feeling I would have stopped living in this house if Tenten and Naruto weren't there.

I really didn't want to be left alone in this house. With both of them here, it'd help me keep a normal life. It'd give me a reason to eat here, a reason to stay here. A reason to go home after finishing a day.

Even if they didn't know it, they were going to help me stay _normal_.

* * *

 **Kurota's clone's POV, three days later. (The one outside Konoha searching for Tsunade)**

* * *

"Excuse me? Did you see this woman?"

"Sorry kid. Haven't seen her."

I sighed as yet another man walks away. The search for Tsunade was going nowhere.

 _She's definitely in the fire country._

I frowned as I deployed a map of the country. In three days, without pausing to eat or sleep, I hadn't done much.

The original had done some additional research in Konoha, and had sent me some results via the inventory, but honestly, it didn't help much. Even Jiraiya didn't know where she was.

Tenten apparently idolized the Sannin and strove to emulate her, but she too didn't know the where she was.

It was a blind search. The only thing that could help me was the fact that she loved gambling and was pretty bad at it, building quite a reputation as "The Legendary Sucker", due to her bad luck.

If _that_ wasn't the proof that Luck was a hidden stat…

Perhaps I could ask about her in gambling buildings?

I sighed loudly as I sat on the ground, and took two chakra pills.

"Hey kid, looking for a good time?"

"No, thanks," I replied to the woman. I was in one of _those_ parts of town… To think they'd ask that kind of thing to a twelve-year-old boy."Did you see this woman?" I asked regardless, showing her the picture of Tsunade.

"No, sorry boy." She answered and walked away.

To not scare people away, I had removed my headband. It was rather refreshing, honestly, not having to wear it and letting my hair completely loose. Even so, it also made people propose things to me they wouldn't to a shinobi.

"Ugh..." I heard a whine behind me.

I turned and looked into a dark back alley. There was a kid there, wrapped up in a dirty cover. A scrawny-looking dog was beside him.

The kid coughed, and as I observed him, I read that he was sick and homeless. He was just seven years old… and was probably constantly sleeping outside in the cold. The dog seemed in pretty bad shape too...

I walked to him, and he glared at me at I arrived in front of him.

"What do you want?" He coughed again.

"I just want to heal you," I reassured them softly as my hand glowed with green light, causing the dog to groan menacingly at me. I didn't know the specifics of his disease, but I'd at least try to cure it. It's not like it cost me chakra.

Not letting them react, I put my hand on his head and released my Mind Heal. The green light lit up the back alley as it engulfed his body, and I did the same for the dog.

"Wh-what… What did you do!" He left his cover and backed away, eyes wide.

"How do you feel?" I asked gently.

"I feel… I feel great. I never felt so great..." He whispered as he looked at his hands for some reason. The dog barked happily. "Wh-who are you?"

I shrugged and smiled. "Just passing by."

And with that, I walked away, heading to the next town.

 _Heheh… I must look pretty cool to this kid!_

* * *

 **Two hours later.**

* * *

"Stop following me!" I snapped.

The kid looked at me with big puppy eyes, and the dog barked happily.

Goddammit...

* * *

 **Kurota's other clone's POV. (The one in Konoha's hospital)**

* * *

"Get. Out." I showed my gritted teeth to the doctor and the nurse, who winced.

"No no no, you don't understand, Farasuke-san. We need to amputate her since her crushed arm can't be healed. Somehow, she seemed to be in optimal condition thanks to you, but her arm is dragging her body back. Also, if we let her pregnancy continue-"

"No one is going to amputate my mother's arm!" I roared, standing up from my chair, and the nurse beside the doctor fainted due to the pressure I was releasing. "Or kill the baby! You hear me? If you touch her-"

"Kurota!" A voice shouted while the doctor fled the room, and a firm hand sat me down on my chair. "Control yourself!"

"I was perfectly in control," I scoffed, "They can't understand if I'm not... They don't believe me. They even wanted to force me out of the room yesterday! Ah… Sorry, Yugao-sensei." I apologized.

The woman glared at me, and I had the decency to look guilty, even if that burst of anger _was_ perfectly controlled.

"You can't scream like that in a hospital, Kurota-kun. And you can't bring such attention to yourself… I understand you're upset, but if you'd just let the doctors do their job -"

"The doctors can't heal her. _I_ can." I cut her. "I _will_ heal her. I am slowly training my Healing technique so I will heal her arm. Let them do their job? They want to kill my brother – or sister! How could I let that happen."

"How can you be so sure you'll be able to cure her?" She asked. "She can't possibly handle a pregnancy and recover from her injuries as well. And her paralysis... It just requires too much-"

"Stamina? Well, it's a good thing I'm here to raise it as well." I smirked. "My Jutsu can handle it, and if I raise it enough, I might be able to heal her crushed arm… and wake up Hayate-san from his coma."

"That's – I…" She shook her head and sighed tiredly. "I can't argue with you if you go there."

She fell quiet and stared at me. There was something in her eyes, a mixture of worry, pity and ... was it affection?

She knelt in front of me, so our heads were at the same level.

"I'm so sorry you have to go through that." She said. "I just want you to know – even if you are a clone – we are doing our best to help you, to support you."

"I know." I sniffed. "But I'm not lying."

"I believe you. You're a tough little guy." She said fondly as she ruffled my hair. "This pain you're feeling… It won't go away. But you can rely on others. Everyone in the village is still grieving the Hokage's death. Your team, your teachers, your friends, you can lean on them.

Don't forget that."

She stood up.

"I assume you know Danzo is keeping an eye on you. Presenting yourself as an angry teenager that threatens the hospital's doctors doesn't paint a good picture of you." She said. "You need to be more careful."

She shunshined away.

Leaning on others?

"I know that," I mumbled to the room as I turned to Mom, who was still in coma. "But I can't afford to show weakness to him or the clans. I have to be able to stand on my own, and protect my mother."

* * *

 **Kurota's POV**

* * *

The village had been depressing until the Hokage's funeral, which was yesterday. Now, Konoha was finally beginning to heal, and everyone was busy repairing what they could or doing missions.

I missed my parents so much, but Tenten and Naruto living with me made it easier. It distracted me from thinking about them, from torturing myself.

Things had been awkward at first, especially with Tenten. She didn't really know Naruto, and wasn't that close to me either. Her being the only girl to live with two guys, however, hadn't embarrassed her in any way.

She quickly warmed up, though, and even though we had a little argument about personal space, we had come to an agreement and things started feeling more natural.

Danzo hadn't made a move against me yet, but I knew I had to take a decision. Even if the Hokage was dead, other people were probably still protecting me, since I had done a great deal of good during the battle (Well, my clone did.).

I still had no idea what I was going to do though. Gain the Hyûga's protection? Another clan? In every scenario, there was an engagement, and for whoever I ended up with, she would be forced into it. That was something I didn't want to inflict on anyone, especially not on Hinata.

And there was also the fact that _I_ didn't want to commit to something so meaningful so young.

Concerning my training, I stopped everything to concentrate on [Mind Heal: Being's Restoration]. I made a clone and he injured me repeatedly while I was meditating, and then I performed the skill on myself. When I ran out of mana, my clone took his turn and healed me.

All in all, the skill was leveling relatively rapidly, but it was to the detriment of other skills like [Mana Armor] or [World's True Vision], as well as my physical training.

[Physical Resistance] benefited from this, of course, and I also gained a point in Vitality the third day.

Having completed the quest, I gained three additional levels and a title.

* * *

 **[Konoha Defender]**

 **Obtained by completing two bonus objectives during the quest 'Help defend the village'.**

 **All Stats +10 when the user is in Konohagakure.**

* * *

Apparently, 'Stop Gaara' and 'Break the Kazekage's Mind Control' had been two bonus objectives that I had successfully completed. The reward was quite significant and would help me when I was in Konoha, which was frequent. So I put it on.

In a few hours during the battle, I had gained 11 levels. Which gave me 55 stat points. I considered how to spend them.

At this point, it was either INT or WIS. I considered CKR or CKRC too, but in the end, you could still raise those stats without spending points in them. So the mind stats were best.

I didn't know if I would gain another set of skills if I reached 150 in INT or WIS either.

It wasn't said in [Mind Heal]'s skill description that its power increased with my INT, contrary to skills like [Mana Bolt] and [Mana Armor]. So I really could go either way.

If you looked at maths, however, INT seemed like the best choice. Mainly because it increased my Mana pool, and I also had [Mana Affinity] to boost it further. Also, [Mana Regeneration] was a skill that leveled up every 5 points in INT, so it would also raise my MP regeneration!

So WIS seemed to have become useless if you thought mathematically. You invested points in WIS to raise your MP regeneration, but with [Mana Regeneration], I could do that by investing in INT instead.

Regardless, WIS was better when it came to planning, scheming, and make efficient decisions. It could also be possible that it raised my resistance against mana based abilities, but I had no real way to test that since my mana couldn't hurt me.

I had also considered not spending my points and save them in case of emergency for more adaptability, but I couldn't think of a scenario where INT wouldn't be the best choice. Except, you know, if Kyûbi was suddenly released from Naruto. That would negate all my Mana abilities, but I couldn't really take a possibility like that seriously.

So in the end, I had decided to put all 55 points into INT, and had waited for my head to blow up the house or something.

Nothing had happened. No skills gained.

I didn't really care, however. I really doubted it would have given me a better Healing skill anyway. What I needed was more Mana to train Mind Heal faster, and now I had 16275 MP, with a regen of 3775,8 per minute. Which meant I could cast around 6 Mind Heals per minute if every other skill was deactivated. With [Meditate] active, it was boosted to 12082 MP per minute, which meant 19 Mind heals per minute.

I was pretty satisfied with those numbers. In three days, [Mind Heal] had already jumped from level 37 to level 61. And that's without counting the ones my clone cast on Mom at the hospital, since he hadn't dispelled. Even the other clone, the one searching for Tsunade, would cast it on himself to remove his fatigue. In addition, the cost of the skill was reduced, so I could cast it even more frequently.

Theoretically, I could wait until my chakra replenished each day and make another Kage Bunshin, which would half my CP despite the other clones that hadn't dispelled. However, I still needed chakra pills to sustain them, and the clone's MP kept diminishing.

Somehow, having a lot of clones active took a toll on their MP max. It made this idea pretty useless at the moment, but it was interesting to see the interactions between mana and Kage Bunshins.

Still. If I found a way to keep my clone's chakra up without something as expensive as chakra pills, I could slowly build an army.

That is, assuming a Kage-Bunshin that didn't dispel wouldn't have side-effects.

So yeah…. Pretty interesting stuff, but for the moment I was fully focused on training Mind Heal.

Right now, I was heading to a team meeting. Even if it interrupted my training, that was alright, I'd get to see Kurenai to ask her for advice concerning the clans. It had been a while since we had one of those, but apparently, every team had a meeting. Tenten and Naruto had also gone to theirs.

"Hey Kiba, Hinata." I greeted as I arrived in the restaurant where we were told to meet Kurenai-sensei.

"Hey."

"Good morning, Kurota-kun."

We fell silent as we waited for Kurenai-sensei to show up.

"Uh… Kurota." Kiba said, scratching his hair. "I learned what happened to parents… I'm sorry that happened, dude."

"Me too." I replied.

"And uh… If you ever feel down… You can come to the Inuzuka domain. We'll make you tea or something." He said as he observed me, before looking away. "If you need a service dog, we can also help you with that."

I gaped as I looked at him.

Wow.

As soon as he saw me, he invited me to his clan's domain. He wasn't even subtle about it.

He was probably pushed by his clan to offer, and maybe that was why he was so blunt about it.

"You know, I invited Naruto and Tenten to live at my house, and they accepted, so I won't be alone. I don't think I'll need a service dog. Thanks for offering though."

"N-Naruto-kun has moved into your house?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah. His house and Tenten's were destroyed during the battle, so I offered them to come to my place. Now you'll know where to find him. And don't worry, Tenten is probably not after him."

"A-ah! It's not like that..." She protested, turning red.

"Good morning team 8!" Kurenai-sensei showed up at that moment, and she sat down with us. "Let's order something to eat!"

"You sure seemed cheery today," I remarked.

"A-ah, well..."

"She has a date with Azuma-sensei." Kiba grinned.

"I have not!" She protested, although her cheeks darkened a little. "We're just going to hang out as friends. Anyway," She hastily changed the subject. "Kurota. Congratulations, you're going to be promoted to Chunin."

"Don't they need an Hokage to give those promotions?" I asked, not really surprised.

"They do… Officially, you're not a Chunin, but everyone knows you greatly contributed in Konoha's defense. You're becoming rather well known in the village, and the majority of the Shinobi considers you are more than fit to become a Chunin. Nothing can be decided yet, but it is only a matter of time before they award you your promotion."

"Yay."

I didn't know if that was supposed to cheer me up, but I didn't really care.

"Moving on," Kurenai-sensei continued, "I am going to be sent on a mission soon. Classified information," She added when she saw our questioning looks. "So I won't be here to supervise you, but you'll still have missions while I am away. Is that okay with everyone?"

"Yes, Kurenai-sensei."*

"Sure."

"Yeah, why not."

"You'll be happy to learn," Kurenai smiled, "that I have already picked a mission for you."

"Really? You could have let us choose." Kiba groaned.

"It was requested by Iruka-san," She ignored the Inuzuka. "You three will replace some teachers at the academy for the youngest children's classes."

She paused and turned to Hinata.

"You were selected as a taijutsu and chakra control teacher, Hinata-chan."

"Hai!" She bowed her head, excited.

"Kiba, you will teach basic ninjutsu."

"All right." He smirked, and Akamaru barked his agreement.

"Kurota..."

"… Let me guess. Genjutsu?"

"And chakra control as well." She nodded. "It is possible they push you to teach Fuinjutsu as an optional class too, depending on your level."

"Wasn't Hinata-chan supposed to be teaching chakra control?" I asked, frowning.

"You can alternate if you want." She shrugged. "Now, Iruka-san will want to see you this week, to teach you… how to teach."

"Is it really okay for us to be teaching at the academy even though we just graduated?" Kiba questioned.

"Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be. However, the chunins that were originally teaching at the Academy were sent on missions, that's why they selected you genins to replace them. They need chunins to take missions, we can't afford to look weak."

We nodded pensively. It would be an experience to teach a class Genjutsu.

"How much are we paid?" Kiba asked, his priorities straight as usual.

"That's something you'll see with Iruka-san." She rolled her eyes.

"Will other teams be teaching too?" I questioned.

"I don't think so." She replied. "Don't worry about it, children are generally very impressionable. They'll be happy to learn from you, trust me."

"I… look forward to it." Hinata-chan smiled.

"Concerning your training," Kurenai-sensei continued. "I'm afraid I haven't planned anything. I'll be leaving Konoha soon, you will have to train by yourself."

Well, that was good for me.

"Ahem." A woman coughed. "Here's what you have ordered." She said as she put our plates on the table in front of each of us. "If you need anything else, let me know."

"Thank you." Kurenai nodded.

"And…"The woman turned to me and gave me a cup of … tea? "From the one upstairs." She smiled. "Red eyes. She said you wouldn't mind sharing a cup…" She leaned towards me and spoke excitedly, "If I were you, I'd go ahead and..." She giggled the rest of her sentence. "Well... lucky you!"

She winked and walked away, leaving me flabbergasted.

"You have fan-girls too now?" Kiba groaned as I [Observe]d the tea. No, it wasn't poisoned.

"I guess." I frowned, thinking.

Red eyes? Uchiha had red eyes. Kurenai had red eyes too but she was unique. Who else… ?

I widened my eyes. I only knew one other person who possessed red eyes. If I remembered correctly...

I noticed Hinata-chan besides me shamelessly activating her Byakugan to look through the ceiling, and I did the same, my eyes turning blue.

* * *

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Ruri O'Brien**

* * *

As I thought, it was the weird Lolita girl that showed up at the Hyûga party, searching for Johny.

Somehow, she noticed us staring through the ceiling, and waved at us innocently.

 _Crap. If she learns about Johny's death I don't know what she'll do. She had been searching for him back then._

More than that, she was still researched by Konoha's authorities for identification, and yet here she was, nonchalantly sitting in a restaurant, drinking a cup of tea.

"I'll go see who that is," I said as I stood up. Better not make her wait… I still couldn't see her level, which meant she was at least 51 levels higher than me. Level 99. And that, with less chakra than a civilian, mind you.

"I've said everything important. You can go." Kurenai accepted. "Come back quickly, okay? So your meal doesn't cool down."

"I-I want to go too!" Hinata-chan said. "I want to know…"

"She asked for me." I cut her. "Not you. If it really is a fan-girl, she won't appreciate another girl going with me."

"Since when do you care about fan-girls?" Kiba scoffed.

"Since I'm not rude like Sasuke." I answered easily. "And it would be mean to not show up and ignore her."

"You're too kind for your own good." Kurenai sighed. "Come on, Hinata-chan. Let him go."

"N-no, I don't think it's a … a…" she stuttered on the word, "a … f-fan-girl. I think she's..."

"Thank you Hinata-chan." I interrupted her. "But let me handle it. You can observe us through the ceiling with your Byakugan anyway." I shrugged as I glanced to the Lolita. She was still staring at us, resting her head in her hands, smiling.

"I…" She hesitated. "W-well… Yes. Sorry, Kurota-kun."

I shrugged, took the cup of tea and headed for the stairs, anticipating the meeting.

Hinata had probably recognized her too. She was with me when I first saw this girl and had probably figured out she wasn't a simple ten-years-old looking girl. Because yes, she looked younger than me!

I rapidly checked the surroundings of the table where I'd sit. No one to listen, that was good.

I was nervous since I didn't know what to expect. She was an unknown, and I was blindly walking into something dangerous. Though she probably wouldn't do anything in Konoha.

On the other hand, ignoring her would have been worse.

Signaling her to Kurenai or the Hyûga? She already showed she could infiltrate the Hyûga's domain easily. Besides, we didn't know her intentions. If she really was powerful, it was best not to make her an enemy.

Being researched for identification could simply mean she didn't want to fill some papers. It was best not to assume she would be hostile. But the possibility was still there.

"Hello," I greeted somewhat politely and innocently as I sat down in front of her. "Thank you for the cup of tea, you didn't have to. How can I help you, miss… ?"

"Ruri. Just Ruri." She smiled elegantly as she took a sip of her cup. "Not a fan-girl."

So she heard us? Did she hear everything since we arrived in the restaurant?

I laughed a little. "Sorry about that. I am Kurota. How can I help you, Ruri-san?"

"Well. Let's see." She stopped smiling and put her cup down. "You could stop killing my zombies."

* * *

 **A/N: So we get to see Kurota's reaction to his father's death. All very toned down by Gamer's Mind. And the end, oh my... sorry about that, haha.**

 **Haven't mentioned it last time, but this will be updated every sunday. (Hopefully. You know how I am... hahaha.)**

 **This is a bit weird to write, with each clone's point of view. I want to clarify that even though I haven't really written how each clone feels about Dad's death and Mom's state, their emotions are still there. I just don't want to write three times the same thing, that would be boring.**

 **Also, I'll do a poll soon to know your opinion about who you'd want Kurota to be paired with. Probably when I update the next chapter.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	46. Chapter 43

**I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

* * *

 **A bit late. Thanks for reading, point out mistakes, blablabla.**

* * *

 **Kurota's POV**

* * *

" _Well. Let's see." She stopped smiling and put her cup down. "You could stop killing my zombies."_

My blood froze as the girl in front of me stared at me.

With Johny's appearance inside the Instant Dimension, I knew the creatures that spawned in it were coming from somewhere. It was only natural that it was the case for the zombies too.

However, she said ' _my_ zombies'. Did it mean she created them? Or tamed them?

"I was confused at first," she continued as she settled back in her seat. "Why were they disappearing? I started monitoring them to see exactly what was killing them, or stealing them."

She took a sip of her cup, enjoying its taste as I stayed silent.

"Imagine my surprise," she chuckled, "when I discovered they were being teleported away. There wasn't anything I could do to prevent it, anchoring them, chaining them, isolating them, even glyphs couldn't stop it. "

I stayed quiet. If she was going to tell her story just like that I wasn't going to stop her. I took a sip of tea and continued listening.

"So I resigned myself to lose some," she sighed. "Until it affected another type of creature."

Ghosts?

"Ghosts." She confirmed. "And not just any ghosts. I was actually tasked to exorcise the one living in castle Cairh. When I saw the ghosts vanish one by one, I thought I wouldn't have to dirty my hands."

She paused. Took another sip.

"But I was intrigued."

"You found a way to follow the ghosts?" I finally spoke up. "Which means-"

"Not quite." She smiled. "You see, I _knew_ my zombies were still alive – well, as alive as they can get - after vanishing. I could sense it since I share a connection with them. That was how I determined they were teleported somewhere else, and not just vanished. So I made a somewhat… risky decision.

"Some of the strongest ghosts have the ability to possess someone. Thus, I let one enter my body." She shivered, looking down with a disgusted expression. "Not an experience I would recommend… although it worked. Whatever was vanishing zombies and ghosts tried to teleport this one too, even if it was possessing my body. So I was transported in a forest of giant trees."

"The Konoha forest?"

"Perhaps. I do not know the name." she shrugged. "I regained control of my body and-"

"How did you do that? Wasn't the ghost possessing you?" I questioned.

"Possessing my body, yes. Not my mind." She raised an eyebrow at me as if it was obvious. "Anyway, that is how I came here. It was quite an experience, visiting a new world this past month."

"And now you want me to stop killing your zombies?"

"I am _telling_ you to stop killing them."

"Okay." I shrugged.

"Why were you hunting them? I see no good reason to-"

"Besides the fact that they're zombies?" I asked, and she narrowed her eyes. "Well, they attacked me."

"So it wasn't you who transported them to this world?" Her lips became black, and I had the distinct impression I could _not_ lie. It was as if she was scanning every part of my body.

"...It was me," I admitted reluctantly. It was best not to lie if I could help it, and maybe she would return where she came from if I no longer spawned monsters. "I don't really control it though, and I didn't know it was yours. Or anyone's, really. To me, they were just wild creatures that attacked anything on sight so I killed them. Sorry about that..."

She laughed, putting her hand on her mouth.

"Do not worry," she smiled. "It allowed me to come to this world, I should be the one to be thankful."

"You don't want to go home?"

"I can go home anytime should I desire so." She smirked.

"I see."

I really didn't.

"So what will you do now?"

" _John Cairh_ bothers me a little. Where is he?"

The last three words were pronounced carefully, with an ounce of a threat in it.

"Dead," I answered. "Or exorcised. Whatever you want to call it."

"Really…" She hummed, gauging me.

"He left a soul stone behind him," I added and took out the stone from my inventory under the curious gaze of Ruri. And Hinata, who was probably observing from below.

"Hmm, I suppose he is gone, then." She accepted as she took the soul stone to examine it. For a moment, I was worried she would keep it, but to my relief, she handed it back to me. "Good. Do not teleport other creatures. If you do, I _will_ come back to make you stop."

' _By killing you'_ went unsaid but I understood nonetheless.

"I already decided that." I nodded, relieved the meeting was going rather well. "If I may recommend you something, you should get yourself identified. I don't know how it is in yours, but in this village, you need some papers along with an authorization to enter Konoha." I explained. "You are already being searched by the authorities."

"I already tried identifying myself." She scoffed, "And they wouldn't believe me. But it no longer matters."

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I have seen enough of this world." She stood up. "It is time I return to mine."

 _Perfect._

"Do not be so cheery." She glared at me. Could she read minds? "If I hear about mysterious disappearances again, I can and _will_ come back."

"Of course," I replied hastily and stood up to follow after her.

"Hmm. I must say, it is strange that you are the only one with mana." She mused as we descended to the first floor. "Where I come from, it is much more frequent."

She paid our bill, tipping with all her money. She probably no longer had any use of it. We passed the table where my team was, and she nodded cordially to them.

Once at the main door, she turned to me.

"Let me give you a last piece of advice."

She leaned forward, whispering in my ear.

"There has to be a reason why nobody in this world has mana. I suggest you find out why... I don't think it is natural."

 _Ping!_

* * *

 **A quest has been created.**

* * *

 **Quest alert: Mana Rarity?**

 **Find out why mana users are rare in this world.**

 **Completion Reward: 1,000,000 XP, ?**

 **No failure restrictions.**

* * *

 **Yes/No?**

* * *

I selectionned Yes since there was no reason to refuse. No failure restrictions meant there weren't any risks. This quest was acceptable as I was also genuinely curious about the Mana rarity. Also, 1,000,000 XP? Yes, please.

I took a step back from her, not really liking the invasion of my personal space.

She giggled. "Hopefully we never meet again, boy!"

Something ignited in her chest, and a black aura emerged from her heart and surrounded her. She raised her hand in front of her, and black mana came out of her hand to form a dark portal.

"Waaah!" Someone screamed and ran away, effectively causing panic to spread in the street.

 _Shit. Her mana is visible._

The portal grew until it reached Ruri's height. That was when various shinobi started to appear on the roofs around her.

"Get back!" I heard Kurenai-sensei order to me and a hand fell on my shoulder.

"Goodbye." Ruri waved at me and stepped into the portal, which disappeared into nothingness, leaving a stunned silence behind.

Everyone turned to me.

"Don't look at me like that!" I threw my arms up. "I don't fucking know what she just did!"

An ANBU landed in front of me. "We're taking you to the T&I department. Do not resist." He told me.

 _Goddammit. I hate Lolitas._

* * *

 **Kurota's clone's POV**

* * *

"Ugh. Fine, come here, boy. Can't have you starve to death."

"T-Thank you so much! " The kid bowed and took a seat beside me. "Come here, Buddy. Don't cause trouble okay?" He whispered to his dog, who whined his agreement.

I had reached the next town, with the boy still following me from a distance.

"Sir!" I called the chef. "Another bowl for the boy."

"On it!" The old man nodded and went to its kitchen.

I continued eating my ramen, not looking at the boy. He had apparently taken me as his savior model and followed me everywhere. Not wanting to lose me, he didn't have time to find food, and he hadn't eaten since yesterday.

While I didn't need to eat, I decided to stop at a ramen stand to feed the poor kid.

We ate in silence. I kinda hoped he would leave me alone after this meal but judging by his eyes full of gratefulness it wasn't going to happen. I could lose him easily, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I sighed. "What's your name?"

"Hiromasa. And this is Buddy. Say Hi, Buddy!"

The dog barked.

"Good boy!"

I hummed, watching the dog.

"U-um. What's your name, sensei?" The kid asked.

"Don't call me sensei." I groaned.

"Master?"

"No."

"Teacher?"

"All of those mean the same! … Just call me Farasuke."

Hopefully giving him only my last name would put some distance between us.

"Hai, Farasuke-sensei."

"I'm not your sensei."

"Hai, Farasuke-sama."

"You don't have to… You know what? Do what you want. I don't care." I sighed.

"Here's some Mega Naruto Ramen!" The old man grinned as he put the bowl in front of the boy, who gaped at the sight.

He looked in the bowl, not sure what to do.

"You have to use the sticks," I said as I showed him the ones I held in my hand. "Like this."

"H-hai..." He tried copying me. "It's hard..."

Judging by his attempts at holding them, the boy probably never ate at a restaurant before.

I finished my bowl as the boy started eating. I took a piece of meat out of my inventory and threw it to the dog. He munched it angrily.

"Chef!" I called. "Did you see this woman?" I asked as I showed him Tsunade's picture.

"Oh yes, she was here a yesterday." He smiled. "In fact, I think she comes here regularly."

"Really!" I said excitedly. "Then, where do you think she is?"

"No idea, sorry."

"Then, is there any gambling facility around?"

"Yes, we are known for having four gambling facility in town. You'll find one at the end of the street." He pointed to the other side of the street to my right.

"Nice. Thank you old man!" I grinned and made sure to leave a generous tip. "Come on, boy," I said to the kid, who had already devoured most of his meal.

"Y-yesh!" He swallowed and we stood up.

If she's really here then I was really lucky. I activated my eyes and started scanning the town as we made our way to the nearest casino.

 _There she is! Wait..._

* * *

 **Tsunade's spitting image**

 **Lv4 Tsubaki**

* * *

Although this woman looked just like her, that wasn't Tsunade at all! And what's with that trolling title!

"Dammit." I groaned as I stopped in my tracks.

"U-um." The boy spoke up, "A-are you searching for the woman from the picture?"

"Obviously, yes."

"I think… she's going to come back here. I saw her passing by in my town a few days ago."

"How do you know she's going to come back? And it's probably not her." I sighed.

"Sh-she was accompanied by someone… who cured the epidemic. That's why I remember!"

"The epidemic? And?"

"Th-there was an epidemic of plague in my town, but they cured it. I heard them saying they needed to borrow at a bank, to pay up some debt." He frowned, trying to remember the details. "I think… they're going to play here again."

"Really." I mused. "So we just have to wait?"

"Yes!" He nodded frantically. He didn't seem to be lying.

"But if they cured the people of your town, why didn't they heal _you_?"

"M-mine was different. The virus had changed, and it wasn't possible to heal me anymore. Once they were gone, the villagers started treating me like…"

"But I did," I said. "I healed you."

"Y-yes!" He grinned. "Thank you so much, ma'am! I'll forever be in your debt!"

 _I see. So that's why he is so grateful, the plague is a lethal disease from what I heard. He was going to die. Wait… What did he just call me?_

"Can you repeat that again?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Thank you so much!"

"No, after that."

"I'll be forever in your debt?"

"No, no, before."

"… Madam …?"

"..."

I closed my eyes. Surely I didn't look _that_ much like a girl? To the point that people would actually confuse my gender?

I passed a hand through my hair. It was true that it had grown a lot these past few months, reaching the middle of my back and falling past my shoulders, even though they were spiky.

For the first time, I noticed how much my hair fell in front of my eyes. It hid half of my face, and I didn't even notice it with my Dojutsu to look through them.

I also wore some loose clothes. Surely that wasn't enough to mistake me for a girl?

" _..."_

"… _Well. Now you'll have all the princesses running after you!" Dad joked._

" _Hahaha, I don't think so. They won't come at me all of a sudden and ask me to marry them. I'm not that handsome." I laughed._

" _Not handsome? Come on, you look just like your mother, you've got her prettiness!"_

" _That just means I look like a girl!" I replied, pouting._

" _A pretty girl!" He smirked. "I wanna see you Henge like that Uzumaki boy!"_

" _What the hell! You're a pervert or what? … Oh, right, you're a pervert. I forgot you read that book..."_

" _It's great! You should try it when you're older." He grinned. "The last one is particularly well written..."_

" _Not happening. And I thought Mom destroyed it?"_

" _..."_

" _No way… You bought another?"_

"… _Please don't tell your mother."_

" _..."_

"Madam? Farasuke-sama! Farasuke-sama!"

"Huh?" I blinked at the little hand waving in front of my eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked, concerned.

"Uh..." I blinked the tears away and noticed the notification in front of me.

* * *

 **A Chain Quest has been created.**

* * *

 **Chain Quest Alert [1/3]: Freedom!**

 **First part: Differentiate yourself from the original by deceiving everyone into mistaking your true gender for two weeks, without using HP, CP or MP to change your appearance, nor any cosmetics.**

 **Reward: New title, HP limitation partially removed, access to the second part of the Chain Quest.**

 **Failure: End of the Chain Quest.**

* * *

 **Yes/No?**

* * *

… What the hell was that? A chain quest? That was new, okay, but...

 _What kind of quest is that!_

Deceiving people into mistaking my gender? Why would my power propose me something like that?!

I narrowed my eyes as I waved off the boy absentmindedly, focusing on the rectangles in front of me.

The way it was worded, 'differentiate yourself from the original' … It sounded weird. As a clone, I was like the original Kurota in every way. Why would I need to differentiate myself?

Could it be this chain quest would give a new clone technique as a reward? To make _different_ clones? But if that was the case, why would the quest be named ' _freedom_ '?

An idea suddenly flourished in my mind. What if… What if it gave a clone technique as a reward, one producing clones that would be freed from the normal clones limitations?

 _A perfect clone technique? One that would genuinely create a perfect copy of the original, with full HPs, CPs and MPs, and no degenerations?_

I shook my head. That didn't make any sense, and it wasn't possible. It also didn't add up with the ' _differentiate yourself from the original'_ part. Nor the whole ' _acting like a girl_ ' I'd have to do.

But I couldn't pass up the opportunity… It intrigued me way too much. A chain quest? That meant other rewards when completing the next ones! If I looked at normal RPGs, chain quests had increasingly better rewards as you advanced through the different parts. And a title was already a pretty good reward.

Even though I should be focusing on healing Mom, what could be the harm? It would just be an act. Letting people assume, and I wouldn't correct them. As such, it wouldn't get in the way of my training, since it wouldn't require me to consume chakra or mana.

I hummed as clicked the Yes button.

 **Days remaining: 14**

The quest allowed me to alter my voice, so I suppose I could do that if really needed. That would be awkward for the kid though… Loose clothes will also be best to hide my figure, perhaps I should buy some new ones.

Fourteen days. I probably would have to contract another elemental to differentiate my chakra signature from the original's, if I were to go back to Konoha. Chakra sensors would be able to tell I was a clone if I didn't do that... So, Lightning, Earth, or Water.

If I asked the original to do the same with another elemental, our chakra could become completely different since contracting an elemental increased the corresponding affinity.

I widened my eyes, suddenly realizing something. If I went back to Konoha, I'd have to make them believe I was not Kurota's clone, but a cousin or something like that. If I remember correctly, my mother had two twins, which could potentially explain my resemblance with the original.

In other words, it would be a completely new identity. A _civilian_ identity, since I wouldn't be on Konoha's records. That also meant I'd have to choose another name… Thank god I didn't give my first name to Hiromasa!

"Do you know when she'll arrive?" I asked him.

"H-huh?" The boy jumped. "I-I dunno. Maybe tomorrow? Or the day after."

Hmm, probably not much time then. I needed to learn how to better deceive and lie, and buy new, wider clothes, which would require money…

What was the saying again? Two birds with one stone?

"Let's go gambling," I smirked.

* * *

 **Kurota's POV**

* * *

"For the last time, Farasuke. Who was that girl and what is your connection to her?" Ibiki interrogated.

"I told you already… I thought she was a fan-girl at first, we chatted a little bit, and then she went out in the street and made that dark portal. She was babbling incoherently that she came from another world but I didn't take it seriously. I thought she was afflicted by Chuunibyou or something like that."

'Chuunibyou', or 'Middle School 2nd year syndrome'. People with Chuunibyou either act like a know-it-all adult and look down on real ones or believe they have special powers, unlike others.

It was the perfect excuse for Ruri's identity.

"You leave me no choice." He groaned as he stood up and left the room.

"Oh, come on!" I shouted, exasperated. "What more do you want!"

Although I acted a bit childishly, I knew exactly what they were up to.

I gave them a version of the events that matched with what Ruri told them. She told me she had already tried identifying herself to Konoha's authorities, which meant they knew she was pretending to be from another world.

In other words. They no longer had any reason to keep me in an interrogation room. They feigned ignorance and used Ruri's flashy departure as an excuse to keep me here to learn more about _me,_ not Ruri.

I groaned as I rested my head on my arms on the table. Resisting was of course out of the question, and escaping with an [ID Create] too.

 _I wonder what the clone that is guarding Mom is doing._

* * *

 **Kurota's clone's POV (in Konoha's hospital)**

* * *

"Get away from me!"

"You are under arrest! Either dispel yourself or come with us. Any resistance will be taken as treason against Konoha and..."

"Kurota-kun!" I recognized Yugao-sensei's voice. "Just surrender and everything will be okay!"

My eyes narrowed. "You already have the original in custody! I don't know anything he doesn't know! I can't leave my mother alone."

"We warned you." The ANBU stated, flexing his legs.

I did a hand-seal and produced some smoke by doing an empty Henge. At the same time, I used [ID Create] to disappear. To them, it would seem like I dispelled myself.

 _I'll just go back in an hour to heal Mom rapidly before going back here._ I thought to myself as I started meditating.

* * *

 **Back to Kurota's POV**

* * *

 _Meh, he'll probably manage._

Long minutes passed as I waited in the quiet room.

It was devoid of furniture except for a table and chairs, dull brown wood paneling, and no window to the outside, with only one door to access the room.

People were probably still protecting me, most likely the Hyûgas or Kurenai, since they weren't torturing me. Konoha was a dictatorship... Without its Hokage. That meant whoever held the most influence decides what to do, including fo interrogation purposes.

The interrogation room was as intimidating and nerve racking as it could get. As time passed, they went as far as to make the room as uncomfortable as 'legally' possible for me , like turning the air conditioning down, lowering the intensity of the light and leaving me in the room alone to think, one hour could feel like a long time when your sitting in a room alone with no clock.

Of course, none of this affected me. They didn't torture me, so it was a relief, but even if they went that far I was sure I could have handled it.

The door finally opened, and a Chunin I didn't know entered.

"You can go on one condition." He explained, and I looked up, interested. "You will have mandatory meetings with Inoichi Yamanaka.

"Sure." I agreed easily and even took the liberty to smile at him. It was definitely better than being stuck in this room.

"Come on." He said. "I'll escort you there."

"Is an escort really necessary?" I asked. "Where is Kurenai-sensei?"

"Orders are orders." He sighed, raising his hands as if to say 'what can you do.'. "And she was asked not to interfere."

Although they allowed me out of the interrogation room, it did not mean the interrogation was over. After bad cop, they were now trying good cop and were going to make me comfortable.

Ibiki glared at me as we passed next to him. I kept my eyes focused in front of me.

I was surprised when we actually left the T&I department and headed to the Yamanaka flower shop, but I didn't let my guard down.

"Hey," the Chunin spoke up and turned to me. "I want to tell you, thank you. You saved my wife and daughter during the battle four days ago."

"It's nothing."

He nodded and continued to lead the way. Was this some kind of advanced pressure technique? I wasn't sure.

' _My childish behavior and other deceptive acts won't work on him.'_ I thought as I was anticipating the meeting. _'What will he ask me? Ruri stuff or Kurota stuff?'_

Inoichi Yamanaka probably used his influence in the T&I department to get me out sooner in exchange of these sessions. Without the Hokage, he could probably do that easily since he was someone important to the department. What was he trying to do?

We arrived at the flower shop, where team 10 were chatting.

"Hey, guys." I waved to them.

"Kurota?" Shikamaru sighed. "What did you do this time?"

"Why do you assume it's something I did?" I smirked at him.

They stared at me.

"Aouch..." I winced. "Really? Anyway, good to see you Shikamaru… They let you out of the hospital, huh?"

"Yeah." Shikamaru nodded and looked at his stump. "It'll be troublesome to adapt, but I can still have a future in tactics and strategy apparently."

Even though acted like he didn't care, I could tell he was really affected. His expression was more crisped, his eyes looking down more frequently, his lips turned into a frown.

"Well, you've got your team to support you," I said awkwardly as the Chunin leaned against a wall, waiting for something. "And I still owe you that game of shogi."

"He'd destroy you." Choji laughed.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Ino asked, before smiling flirtatiously. "Could it be… you wanted to visit me?"

"Mandatory meetings with your father," I answered, trying not to blush.

"Really? What for?" She questioned curiously.

"Just talks."

"About…?"

"Philosophy."

She rolled her eyes and punched my shoulder lightly.

"I don't really know," I laughed as I dodged another one. "At first I thought of it as a continuation of my passage in the T&I department, but it doesn't look like it. Maybe it's about the sanctity of human life?"

They blinked, slowly coming to terms with what I said.

"Huh," Ino scratching her head before she winked. "Hopefully it's not about an engagement between us! I heard you are quite the dream husband these days, but I'd hate to be forced into something like that."

She laughed as my face flushed. Fortunately, her father appeared in the entrance of the shop, which made her stop laughing immediately, worried that he heard any of what she said.

"Wish me luck," I sighed as I waved to team 10 and the Chunin.

"Welcome, Farasuke-san." Inoichi Yamanaka stepped aside as he opened the door, beckoning me in.

He was already doing it. Analyzing my every move, the tiniest change of expression.

 _[Gamer's Mind]? I need you._

As if to answer my call, my mind was cleaned of all doubts. It probably wasn't very good to appear emotionless to Inoichi Yamanaka, but it was better than him reading my mind or unconscious reactions.

I knew there was a lot of interrogation and pressure techniques. I just wondered if he was going to ask me just about Ruri or if he was going to try to learn more about my secrets.

"I've just made some tea… Would you like some?"

"No, thank you."

"It is not mine, I assure you." He chuckled. "I also have water or coffee."

"I'm okay," I said, taking the chance to look about the man's house. It was well-organized, free of clutter and recently cleaned. He lead me to a room where two sofas were positioned, near a window that gave a view of the Yamanaka's garden. Between the sofa was a wooden coffee table on which was carved a flower symbol.

"Take a seat, take a seat," The head clan waved to the sofas, sitting down himself in the other. I shrugged, taking the other but careful not to lean into it.

I was tense. I wasn't sure what the point of it all was, as I already told them all I knew about Ruri.

 _This is about me. Not that damn Lolita._

Was this... actual counseling? What a ridiculous idea.

"Tell me, Kurota-san -If I may call you that-"

"Sure." I shrugged.

"Do you know why you've been assigned here?"

"Mandatory sessions after my stay in the T&I department," I answered, not meeting the man's eyes.

"Indeed, that's right." he chuckled. "I would just like you to know that even though those sessions are mandatory, you are not the first to take them. You can choose to tell the truth or not. You need not fear this as some terrible trap."

"Is this a continuation of the previous interrogation?" I asked.

"No." He smiled. "It is not, don't worry."

 _Oh, I worry._

"Then why am I here? And aren't my teammates, for example, going through these?"

"I think you misunderstand," The man said. "These sessions are not for us to discuss what happened before, or during the battle a few days ago. You are here because of something else… Can you tell me what it is?"

Wasn't he supposed to tell me that?

"It's not for a..." I hesitated.

"Go on." He encouraged.

"It is not for a… an engagement?"

To my relief, he burst out laughing.

"I wouldn't do that to Ino," He chuckled, before becoming serious. "An engagement. Yes, I hear you would have to worry about that a lot, but you are not here for that."

I frowned. "Then, is it because you want to learn my secret Jutsu?"

"No," He shook his head. "Although I am a bit curious, that is not why you are here."

Really? Then what?

"How curious. I had thought you were aware..." He mused as he narrowed his eyes at my silence. "It appears my friend is correct in his analysis."

I scratched my head, not sure what to say.

"I know how I got here… You have probably a lot of influence in the T&I department, and without the Hokage you probably took the liberty to have me released in exchange of those sessions." I paused and looked out in the magnificent garden pensively. "If it's not for an engagement, not to learn my techniques, or to learn more about Ruri… then..."

An idea came to me. The Yamanaka used a bit of Mana in their Jutsu, was it why they wanted me here?

No… He said he didn't care about my techniques, that probably included mana.

Then… What could it be?

There was the death of my father… Which meant I became the head of my family. Could it have something to do with that?

"You want to make a business deal with our shop?" I tried.

"Not quite..." he sighed. "You are here because you need help, Kurota-kun."

"Help?" I repeated.

"What happened to your parents. To the Hokage. The pressure the Hyûgas are exercising on you. Danzô's suspicions. Your first kills a few days ago during the battle. Your missing fingers..." He enumerated. "Yet you remain unchanged. All of that, and you don't show any instability. Any boy your age would have cracked under the pressure." He leaned forward.

"I am here to see what is wrong with you, Kurota-kun. We will meet every week to talk. With time, I believe I will be able to determine how to help you and… heal your mind, in a sense."

Ah…

I laughed a little. "A waste of time. Nothing is affecting my mind, be it a first kill or your transmission technique."

He raised an eyebrow. "What about your father's death? Did it not affect you?"

I winced and looked away.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked gently.

"I'd rather not."

"Okay." He agreed easily. _Too_ easily.

"Your first kills, then. Did you not feel anything when taking a life?"

"I thought it was easy," I answered. "They were enemies anyway."

"Does that distinction matter?"

"Of course!" I scoffed. "Enemies… are enemies. We were at war. I would feel guilty if I killed Konoha shinobi..." I blinked and realized that was not the case. I let myself to lean back in the sofa. "Is that what it is? Are you trying to convince me I shouldn't have killed them, that I should have let this guy slice my mother's throat? I did what I had to do."

"Of course." He allowed. "What I worry about is how quickly you came to such a decision, even though you never took a life before. How easily you are willing to write off one's life."

"I do not write off one's life easily!" I protested. "I am not a… a sociopath."

Right?

"A fool would have labeled you as one." He nodded, "But I am no fool. You've shown that you care about your friends. I do not think it is part of a sociopath's behavior.

Don't you need to come to terms with your actions?"

"No," I answered easily. "Killing them didn't bother me. I don't feel guilty. Isn't that what it means do be a ninja?" I smirked, "Not letting your emotions go in the way?"

"Not letting your emotions go in the way and not having any emotions are two different things, Kurota-kun."

"I told you I _have_ emotions." I pointed out. "Just not for them. Maybe I felt a little something at first," I accepted, "but I quickly made up my mind."

"Then you have adapted to the burden surprisingly well."

"Are we done then?"

"I said you have adapted well. I did not say you no longer need those sessions."

I humphed, and pouted at the table, staying quiet.

He turned away from me and walked to his kitchen. He came back with a porcelain tray, a decanter in the middle. He placed it on the table between us, lifting off the lid and sprinkling some leaves he plucked from a box. I watched as the man stirred them around with a spoon, inspecting the water every now and then.

It continued for long minutes, with me sitting silently the entire time.

"Uh… Why-"

"Shh." the clan-head shushed me. "Give it a little time. You have to allow good tea to settle in good time."

I humphed again. So he wanted to play this game, did he? I sighed, and closed my eyes, starting meditation.

The man sighed too, finally placing the lid back and pouring the both of us a mug.

It tasted really good, to my irritation.

"Let's not talk about the battle," he said, "Instead, why don't we talk about you?"

"No thanks."

"Okay then," He agreed again, too easily. "Why did you decide to take on the Kazekage alone?"

"Why not?"

"You are placed into teams for a reason."

"Mine was unavailable."

"You know what I mean, Kurota-kun. Why not ask us Jonins?"

"I didn't think of it." I shrugged helplessly. I couldn't explain to him the real reason why…

"I think we both know that answer was not honest, Kurota-kun." He chastised, smiling at me over his mug. "Still… This is not an interrogation. You can choose to not answer a question, I will not judge. Were you so confident you could rescue the Kazekage alone?"

"It worked."

"It did, and in that regard, your decision was proven correct. I just find it strange to do this all alone… What if you had died?"

"Then I would have dispelled," I smirked victoriously. "And my memories would have come back to the original."

"… I see." He took another sip, looking at his wife in the garden.

Heh… Even if it had been the real me, as long as I don't die, I could suffer any injuries. I only needed one HP to survive, and then I'd sleep in a bed and regenerate everything.

"I believe we are done for today." He looked at the clock. "It seems that is all I have time for..."

"We're done then," I stood up.

"For now. I will contact you when I have time for another meeting."

I growled, palming my face at the thought of so much time wasted. A time during which I could have flagellated myself to train Mind Heal!

 _Huh, maybe I do need these sessions…_

"I don't need these sessions!" I snapped, refusing the thought. "I killed these people and I don't regret it. I dealt with the Kazekage alone because I knew I could. I will not regret those actions."

He stood up as I walked away. "No, you will not." He agreed calmly, arms crossed. "But you will still be seeing me until I deem our meetings finished."

"I don't need counseling. This is useless… It won't help at all."

"So there _is_ a problem you need help with?" He raised an eyebrow in interest. "We all need help, Kurota."

I paused in the doorway, looking back at the man who looked so calm, sympathetic. Help? Did I need help? "I don't need help." I shook my head and left, leaving the door open behind me.

No one could help with these mental issues anyway… and it wasn't like they were _bad_ per see.

[Gamer's Mind]… It was just there. There was no way to remove it.

I knew what I was doing.

* * *

 **Kurota's clone's POV (the one after Tsunade), two days later.**

* * *

The man glanced at his cards, panting. I looked at mine, eyes narrowed.

"Showdown!" The man suddenly shouted, "Two pairs!"

I laughed. "Too bad! I win!" I showed my cards.

"F-full house?!" The man gasped as he stood up in surprise, knocking chips down.

"That's right," I smirked. "You had a tough day… Normally you'd be in debt of 1,000,000 yens, but I'm a good girl so you don't have to pay me! Be grateful… You just lost all your money."

"U-uaaah!" The man ran away crying.

I leaned back, smiling as I grabbed all the chips. In two days, I made 3,000,000 yens, exceeding my expectations (one million) by a lot.

It turns out I was gifted at gambling. I didn't even need to cheat by activating my Dôjutsu or anything! On the contrary, in order to improve my acting and deceiving skills (not gaming skills, I didn't gain any skill- I'm actually talking about real skill here), I played fairly.

Well, as fairly as someone with 100 INT could be. It was simple: I just had to calculate all the probabilities of each combination by looking at my hand and the cards on the table to determine if I had a good chance of winning. Then I would read my opponent's expressions and move, ticks and twitches. Finally, I also nursed my expression masterfully to not let any emotion show.

Not only it gave us money to eat, sleep and buy clothes, but it also trained my deceptive techniques, as I sometimes bluffed, as well as taught me to read the opponent's expression, figuring out when _they_ bluffed.

Being a twelve-year boy – I mean, girl – didn't even raise issues.

Well, it did… At first. Until I showed them an illusion of a batch of a hundred thousand yen bills. Then I cheated in the first game to ensure I won some money and learn the game. After that, I no longer used illusions or any techniques and bet with the money I won.

Most of the games I won, and those I lost were meaningless as I bet nearly nothing.

I sighed pleasantly as people around me gulped and avoided my table. This life wasn't actually half bad… But eventually, I knew I'd grow bored with the game.

"W-we made so much money!" Hiromasa muttered, overwhelmed.

"Yep." I nodded, looking at him. "Wanna play a few games? I'll teach you if you want."

He looked very different, actually clean, fed, rested and with decent clothes. He looked _healthy_.

"A-ah, no, thank you Hitomi-san… I don't want to play with your money..."

And there was _that_ too. ' _Hitomi_ '... I picked a random name of a girl I saw in the street. Didn't give much thought to it, really, but I was still not used to being called 'Hitomi'.

Yesterday, I also made a contract with a water elemental, a girl named Rivule. It had required me to find a river where there was lots of water, but I found it and I received the +30 boost in water affinity.

I chose water because water was everywhere. In the earth, in the air, in plants, in the human body. Also because it was the easiest to manipulate… And totally not because it made taking showers and baths easier. Nope.

* * *

 **[Basic Water Elemental (Active/Passive) LV1 EXP: 0,00% / MP: 500 per minute]**

 **The most basic water elemental. Allows the user to summon an elemental to manipulate water (costs additional MP).**

 **Two forms available: spirit and corporal.**

 **In spirit form, the elemental will stay by the user's side and will not be visible except for the user. The caster borrows the elemental spirit's power to control its elements.**

 **In corporal form, the user materializes the elemental, and give it his own autonomy. Requires a summoning scroll. Cost 1000 MP and CP when summoning. Chakra must be transformed in water nature.**

 **The elemental's attributes will change as the caster's INT, skill level and Water Affinity grows. It will also allow them to summon stronger elementals.**

 **Precision, power and versatility increase as the caster's INT, skill level and Water Affinity grows.**

 ** **Obtaining this skill increase Water Affinity by 30.****

* * *

I didn't summon her though, so the skill level was only at one. I only did it for the affinity, to make my chakra different from the original's. I needed to conserve my MP for training Mind Heal.

"Don't worry..." I heard a man say to the poor guy I defeated. "The legendary sucker has arrived! You can still make good your losses!"

 _It's time._

I stood up and activated my World's True Vision, searching for the woman. It didn't take long.

* * *

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Tsunade**

* * *

She had brown eyes and straight, shoulder-length blonde hair that was kept tied in two loose ponytails.

Despite her age, Tsunade maintained the appearance of a young woman. It was not a Henge nor an illusion, as I would have seen it with my Dôjutsu. However, she still was in constant use of chakra to fuel some technique I was not familiar with, probably to make herself seem younger.

There was also a violet diamond shape seal clearly visible on her forehead.

I turned my eyes to the woman next to her.

* * *

 **The flowers, the birds, the wind, and the Moon**

 **Lv 80 Shizune**

* * *

' _What a weird title.'_ I mused as I looked to the woman accompanying Tsunade. _'Kind of poetic.'_

Shizune was a fair-skinned woman of average height and slender build with onyx eyes and jet-black hair, which was straight and shoulder-length with bangs that cover her ears and frame her face.

She did not wear a forehead protector… Nor did Tsunade, for that matter.

So she really had taken a sabbatical from active shinobi duty?

Tsunade had already sat at a table despite her companion's protestations, and it was quickly being filled by opponents.

I smirked and stole the last place mercilessly from the man I just ruined.

Everyone stood up and ran away for some reason.

"Huh." I looked around, and Hiromasa sniggered.

I focused on Tsunade.

"Who let this brat bet? Is that allowed?" She asked around. "I have a bad feeling about this..."

"They allowed me to bet when they saw I had money," I said as I showed my wad of bills.

"Hm…"

"Tsunade!" Shizune protested. "Even if she has money, I don't think we should rob a child."

"It's okay." I insisted. "I want to make a deal, actually."

"Oh?"

"If you win, you take all my money." Shizune was about to protest again, so I continued quickly, "But if _I_ win… You get the money anyway. And you come back to Konoha."

Hiromasa and Shizune gasped, but Tsunade's eyes narrowed.

"I decline." She declared and stood up.

"Why not?" I asked, "Please stay! I just want to talk."

Her eyes softened, and she sat down.

"I'm not asking you to go back to your shinobi duty," I pleaded, "I… I just want you to heal my mother. There was a battle recently at Konoha, orchestrated by Orochimaru…" The Sandaime died." Tsunade's eyes widened. "My fath- my uncle too. My aunt was gravely injured, and she might not survive her pregnancy... A lot of people need the legendary medic sannin's skills."

I heard Hiromasa's breath beside me become louder, he was completely overwhelmed by what I was talking about. Not surprising, since I didn't talk about me these last two days.

"I'm sorry girl… I refuse. It's impossible." Tsunade repeated, and she looked truly sorry. She was going to stand up again.

"W-wait! I… I've done research on you," I said, and her eyes narrowed. "I know you have haemophobia…" Her gaze turned into a threatening glare. Careful there… "I… I can try to … to heal you..."

My voice died and my blood ran cold as I sensed the pressure in her eyes.

"Who do you think you are!" She shouted, slamming her hand on the table. It broke, spilling chips everywhere. "Do you seriously think such trauma can be healed so easily!" She grabbed me by my collar and lifted me up in the air, my legs waving uselessly. Besides us, Hiromasa tried to stop her, but he was held back by Shizune. "You have some nerve!"

I said nothing, actions speaking louder than words. I touched her arm with my hands and performed a Mind Heal while consuming my last gem, the Advanced soul stone. It better be worth it…

The green light lit up the room, and I was thrown away outside like I had the plague, but it was too late. Already, the light engulfed her body.

She looked at her hands, eyes wide. "What did you do?"

I slowly stood up, my Mana Armor having taken most of the damage of throw.

"I tried a healing technique that doesn't rely on Chakra." I answered sincerely as the light slowly faded. "It is possible it can heal mental traumas such as the fear of blood."

"I feel great..." She whispered as she looked around at her body, before turning to me. She was no longer angry, but still held a great deal of caution. "Did it work?"

I winced. "I don't know..."

"What do you mean, you don't know." She scoffed. "Don't you know what you just did to me?"

"I got rid of fatigue, cured any diseases, regenerated tissues, healed pains and got rid of your anger," I answered carefully, "But I do not know if your heamophobia is still there."

"If you don't know, then it didn't work." She stated.

I grimaced. She had a point… I would have sensed the light curing something as big as a mental trauma.

"I will not go back to Konoha." She walked to me, and knelt, her eyes softening. "I'm sorry for your loss… No one should go through that."

"N-no," I pleaded, "Please… At least try to heal my aunt! I couldn't do anything." I sensed tears rolling down my cheeks. "You have to do something..."

She put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry."

She stood up. "Come on, Shizune." She sighed sadly. "Let's go."

"Hai!"

I looked down, my vision slowly blurring. It didn't work… The Mind Heal didn't work. Even though I used the soul stone…

 _There has to be something I can do! Come on, my 100 INT! Isn't there another solution?_

My eyes widened. 100 INT and 100 WIS? I was a genius… That was it! _That_ was the solution!

"W-wait!" I ran after them, Hiromasa following me. They turned to me, eyes sympathetic.

"If-if you can't do it yourself..." I looked in her eyes and summoned the biggest puppy eyes I could muster. "Then... teach me."

* * *

 **A/N: A lot of stuff in this chapter. You can see that I actually care about feedback and resolved the Ruri plot right away since lots of people disliked her. It messes a bit with my scenario, but I'll handle it. Maybe she'll come back eventually, I don't know.**

 **Special Thanks to _Mad Hobbit_ who recommended me to use _Grammarly_ as a way to make up for the absence of a beta-reader. It's not perfect, but it really helps a lot, thanks.**

 **POLL:** **The poll for the pairing should be up on my profile. If you want Kuro to be paired with someone that is not mentioned in the poll, please write it in a review.**

 **Note: This may not change anything for the pairing. If I get 100 votes for Tsunade (lol, she's not in the poll) and 2 votes for Ino for example, I obviously won't pick Tsunade! I'm just curious of your opinion.**

 **See you next Sunday!**

 **Edit: Poll's over. Chapter will come out tomorrow**


	47. Chapter 44

**I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

* * *

 **DAMN ITS SO FREAKIN HOT IM DYING**

* * *

 **Poll result:** **(The poll is now _closed_ )**

 **1) Hinata: 55 (Not surprising, she's pretty popular)**

 **2) Samui: 39 (lol, I don't even remember who she is)**

 **3) Hanabi: 36**

 **4) Karin: 34**

 **5) Tenten: 33**

 **6) Ino: 25**

 **7) Hana: 21**

 **8) Temari: 20**

 **9) Sakura: 11**

 **9) Ruri: 11**

 **10) Karui: 9**

 **11) Hitomi (his clone): 3, 4, 5, 6... unclear if people actually voted that seriously. (Didn't even think about _that_ ship. That's awesome. How did I not think of that?!)**

 **12) Ami: 3**

 **13) Fû: 1**

 **13) Yugito:1**

 **13) Pairing with males: 1 (Didn't consider that either, but the one voting precised it would be Hitomi x A male, not Kurota)**

 **13) His future sister that isn't even born yet?! : 1 (What the hell, haha)**

 **?) Harem: ? (a lot since I started this story, but I don't do that, sorry.)**

 **?) No pairings: ? (a few since I started this story, but I'd like to write a little bit of romance if only to see how I do.)**

 **Note: These results don't actually mean anything. I mean, there are what, 300 voters? Out of a couple thousand readers. I just wanted an idea of the popularity of each character, to help my choice.**

* * *

 **I had a few people freak out when I used the word ' _sociopath_ ' during Inoichi's talk session. Let me clarify things since I'm a terrible writer: Kurota knows he is not a sociopath. He's worried that other people will see him as one. Didn't I mention that in a previous chapter long ago? I don't remember.**

* * *

 **Ok, here's the chapter.**

 **Also, I got a beta-reader. Yay! Special thanks to Leoni Liponscovi!**

* * *

 **Kurota's Clone's POV**

* * *

"If you succeed in making this fish twitch by using the Mystical Palm, I will teach you medical ninjutsu."

We had moved out of town and found a spot where Shizune caught a fish in the river.

As I was kneeling on the grass as I looked at the fish in front of me.

Tsunade's request seemed fair. She wanted someone who knew the basics: the mystical palm and the chakra control necessary to use it were crucial to a medic-nin. Honestly, it was a surprisingly easy test. Maybe she had taken a liking to me?

"I know that technique," I said as I made a shadow clone before we performed the mystical palm together. Having a clone would help me double my healing power.

It would have been an easy task for someone specialized in medical-ninjutsu. For me, however, I needed to make a clone to improve my efficiency.

A few seconds later, the fish twitched and jumped in my face, splashing me with water.

"Gah!" I grasped it and threw it back in the river. I looked up at Tsunade.

If she was surprised she didn't show it.

"You know the kage-bunshin? Where did you learn it?"

Her suspicion was justified since I was only a civilian in her eyes. However, there wasn't any law forbidding civilians to learn Jutsu.

"My cousin taught me. He said it was great to learn more things."

"Your cousin?"

"His name is Kurota. He's a Konoha genin."

"Where would he learn a Kinjutsu like this one?"

"A Kinjutsu?" I repeated and made a show of being surprised, using my poker training. "Uh, I don't know. I think Naruto, one of his friends, taught him. Is that bad?"

"Uzumaki Naruto?" Her eyes narrowed.

"Yes, that's his name."

She hummed and turned away, staring at the sky.

"Well, Hitomi-chan," She eventually spoke, "Looks like I get another disciple!" She smiled at me.

I glanced at Shizune and Hiromasa, who both grinned at me.

"Hai!" I stood up and bowed gratefully.

* * *

 **Kurota's POV**

* * *

"Sho you vill teash atshe academy?" Naruto asked.

"Dammit Naruto. swallow before speaking!" I groaned. "But yeah, I'll teach Genjutsu."

"Maybe you'll have Konohamaru's class." He scratched his chin pensively. "That's pretty cool! Kakashi-sensei said I'd get a mission soon, but I won't be with Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme."

"Really? What mission did they get?"

"Boring patrols," he laughed, "So I'm happy I don't have to do that. I'll have to wait and see what sensei has for me!"

That was weird, normally Kakashi-sensei prioritized Sasuke over Naruto.

 _It probably has something to do with the Kyûbi then._

"What about you, Tenten? What did you get?" The blonde asked the girl who was eating with us and hadn't spoken yet.

"Rebuilding the village." She groaned.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I looked at her plate. "You haven't eaten much. What's wrong?"

She sighed. "I… It's my team."

"What about them? Ah, is it about Neji?" I guessed.

"He changed a lot since your fight with him, Naruto." She smiled at him. "In a good way. I'm more concerned about Lee..."

Her expression changed, now filled with worry and confusion.

"He completely changed after the battle… We couldn't even recognize him. He doesn't speak a lot anymore… even to Gai-sensei! I don't know what to do, I don't understand. I … I think he has killed a lot during the battle."

Silence met that revelation.

"A first kill can change people." I declared carefully, remembering my conversation with Inoichi Yamanaka.

"It's not like that!" She snapped. "He's not… He changed so much. He's not bothered at all by the people he killed. It should be a good thing that he's not letting it go to him but this is completely different. It's like he's another person entirely.

"He challenged Neji for a spar, and somehow he won. He didn't even look happy, or surprised, with the result. It was like beating the Hyûga prodigy was a natural thing to do, even though he had a hard time to win... Even though it was something he was aspiring to for so long!

"He told Gai-sensei that he's going to train alone from now on. He would have never done that before! Gai-sensei is like a father to him." She shook her head. "He was annoyed by the mission too, instead of bouncing around and bragging about youth like he usually does. "

She sighed. "Sorry to bother you with that. It's my team… I'm just frustrated."

"It's all right. We weren't bothered at all." I said.

Indeed, that sounded nothing like the competitive guy I fought against at the end of the second task. His sensei and he had also seemed very close at the time.

"I think you have to let him alone for a bit," Naruto spoke, "Give it time!"

"He probably has something he doesn't want to share with his team yet. The thing that changed him so much." I added.

"Bushy Brows will come back to his team eventually," Naruto grinned. "Believe it! He's Bushy Brows!"

I doubt that, but maybe that optimism was what Tenten needed.

I couldn't really do anything about this situation. Lee and I weren't close, and [Observe] wouldn't reveal anything on his problem.

Even it could, I still wouldn't have used it. There was something morbid about Observing everyone and shamelessly peek into their lives, and I had recently tried to stop using it on people.

"Maybe ask Inoichi Yamanaka for advice on the situation," I recommended, and Tenten smiled to us. It was a bit forced, I noticed, but it was still there.

We finished eating talking about little things. After dinner, I went back to flagellate myself to train Mind Heal.

* * *

 **Kurota's clone's POV, four days later**

* * *

 **Remaining days: 10**

Tsunade's training schedule was not as efficient as I would have liked, probably because she was going easy on me. She also regularly went gambling as we passed through the towns.

Still, I learned a lot. I constantly made a clone to listen to her teachings in order to double the memories I received. As a consequence, I remembered everything by heart after only listening once.

She also made me train my chakra control, which gave me something to do while she was away.

"I don't know how you managed to learn the mystical palm with a chakra control like yours, but you need perfect control if you want to master the main chirurgical healing tools."

The mystical palm was a good way to train chakra control, and with my brains and Tsunade's pieces of advice, I was able to raise it relatively quickly, as I already gained five points in CKRC.

I ate so much chakra pills I was going to run out in a day if I maintained this rhythm. Hopefully the original would notice and try to provide more.

"Aaah! I can't do it." I heard a cry of frustration.

"It's only been four days. It's not that simple." I said to Hiromasa who was trying to maintain a leaf on his forehead by using chakra.

"Can't you give me some tips? There has to be a way to do it more easily!"

Hiromasa had apparently decided to stick with me and learn chakra control. Tsunade wasn't against it so I let him do what he wanted.

"Here, look," I called him as I formed a hand-seal. "This hand-sign will help you focus on your chakra."

"Ooh..." He tried it and the leaf stuck to his forehead. "Awesome! I did it! Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Training your chakra control without hand-seals is more effective than with hand-seals, I think" I explained, "Also, good job. It's pretty impressive for a civilian that you got it after only four days." I said as I focused back on my chakra.

As a clone, it was slowly but surely depleting itself. Like a fire slowly perishing, the chakra pills were the fuel.

I hummed. Was it possible to reach a level of chakra control where I could counter the degeneration?

What if I closed some of my tenketsus? With any luck, it would stop the depletion, and allow me to save pills. However, I wouldn't be able to train.

"Sensei! What should I do next?"

"Don't call me sensei!" I opened my eyes and punched him on the head. "Dammit. You can try the same thing on different parts of your body, or with two leafs. Think a little for yourself."

"E-eh… sensei..." Hiromasa spoke up, a bit uncertain.

"You! I told you not to call me..." My voice died as I noticed a third person had appeared out of nowhere beside us.

"Huh, so we have a disciple now?" The original Kurota raised an eyebrow at the boy. He crossed his arms. "And what's up with your clothes? Did you find Tsunade?"

I had placed a seal on my bag, which allowed the original to sense where I was by using another transference seal. With our chakra sense and our Fuinjutsu knowledge, it was enough to track the seal down. The downside was that chakra sensors would be able to sense me more easily.

"Kurota," I greeted as I stood up, and his second eyebrow joined the first. "We found her, yeah. I couldn't heal her haemophobia, so she still doesn't want to come back in the village…"

He grimaced. "Crap… What are we going to do?"

"She took me as a disciple. Or, at least she'll teach me for a while." I declared. "With our genius, I should be able to learn rapidly and hopefully surpass Tsunade within a couple months."

"A couple months?!" Kurota repeated, "That's way too long! Who knows how much time Mom can survive!"

"Long enough," I said, "If you heal her every hour, I see no reason as to why she wouldn't make it. Her state has stabilized, and she constantly monitored by the doctors."

"True," he accepted, "but what if she wakes up? It'll work as long as she's sleeping, otherwise, she'll consume lots of energy. And I don't think it's very good for her body to be healed constantly like that."

"Then we just have to hope she doesn't wake up before I complete the training!" I snapped. "Throw me a bone, Kurota, this is the only option we have to save her."

"I could try to heal Tsunade again." He argued. "My [Mind Heal] has reached level 72."

"Mind heal… level 72?" Hiromasa repeated, confused.

"Hiromasa, can you leave us alone?" I asked the boy. He nodded, completely lost, and walked away. He stopped about twenty meters away and sat down, staring at us.

I turned back to the original. "That's impressive, but will it be enough to equal the power of an advanced soul stone?" I asked.

"You used it?!" The original's eyes widened. "It didn't do anything? Oh crap..."

"You could try it again," I suggested. "You'd just have to kill a few zombies first to get a soul stone. But a low-level soul stone will never match the curing power of an advanced one."

"… Yeah, no." Kurota sighed,"The Lolita girl came to me... Ruri O'Brien. We talked. Turns out it was her zombies we were killing, and she…" He stopped himself and shook his head. "Actually, why are we talking? Just dispel yourself, I'll just make another clone."

"Uuuh…" I hesitated, "Actually, I'd rather not. I got an interesting quest…"

"You got a quest? Can clones even get quests?"

"Weird, isn't it?" I agreed. "I didn't even use the [Helpful Adventurer] title."

We had tested the matter before, and clones had never succeeded in getting quests, even with the title on. Instead, the original got them.

"And you think if you dispel we will fail the quest?"

"Pretty much."

He hummed. "What is your quest exactly? Is it really important?"

"It's the first chain quest we get,"I brought up the quest panel. "Here. See for yourself." I sighed and sent the panel to him.

* * *

 ** **Chain Quest Alert [1/3]: Freedom!****

 ** **First part: Differentiate yourself from the original by deceiving everyone into mistaking your true gender for two weeks, without using HP, CP or MP to change your appearance, nor any cosmetics.****

 ** **Reward: New title, HP limitation partially removed, access to the second part of the Chain Quest.****

 ** **Failure: End of the Chain Quest.****

* * *

He narrowed his eyes as he read the description. " _'Freedom_ ', huh…deceiving people into mistaking your gender?! HP limitation partially removed…"

He looked up at me. "What the hell is that."

I laughed awkwardly. "This is three quests in one, and I think the rewards are going to increase. We could potentially gain a new clone technique."

"So that's why you're wearing these clothes." He closed his eyes as he vanished the rectangle. "And why you don't want to dispel… the description specifically says ' _differentiate yourself from the original_ ', that means you have to do it as a clone."

"That's right."

"However, I still think it's too risky. I have raised my INT to 155, you haven't. We need to regroup our memories to increase [Mind Heal]'s level, and that way, the clone I will make to learn under Tsunade will also have increased INT and will learn faster.

We need to be as efficient as possible, to heal mom before it's too late."

"I told you she has stabilized." I argued, "Besides, INT doesn't improve the learning rate very much. WIS is more efficient when it comes to increasing the experience we get by training!"

"I still don't like it." He shook his head. "You might not have thought about it since you're not currently as smart as I am," My eye twitched despite it being the truth. "What if this chain quest makes _you_ _real_? ' _Freedom_ '. It might refer to your freedom as a clone, you may free yourself from the original, me."

"That's… It seems impossible. I didn't think about that." I admitted.

"You didn't." He sighed again. "Now, dispel yourself." He materialized our Ninjato out of the inventory and activated his eyes. "I can help you with that if you're hesitating."

"Wait… This is an opportunity! We can learn much about this situation. Think about it, nobody has done it before! A clone becoming real? It's definitely something we need to see for ourselves!"

"I'd lose all your memories, and that includes not only all your stats and skills growth but also your little experience with the Shinigami as well as the Kazekage's Mind Control glyphs." He replied. "That's information I can't ignore. Even if I am curious about this situation..."

"You do _not_ want to remember the Shinigami! He's the reason why [Gamer's Mind] failed! Listen… This chain quest, we haven't seen anything like it before, why don't we at least complete the first two ones before assuming anything about the completion reward? If the final reward is something troublesome, then I'll just dispel before finishing the chain quest."

I was going to dispel myself after the second quest, naturally. Every clone could understand that dispelling themselves would reunite them with the original.

After all, when a clone dispelled himself, his memories came back to the original. And any clone could remember the original's life. Hence, any clone could remember being another clone and what it was like to dispel himself. It was nothing to be scared of, really.

The original knew that. I knew that. It was just...

The potential rewards of this quest could simply be too good, we _had_ to snatch the first two ones before I dispel myself. Was I too greedy?

As he hesitated, we heard Tsunade and Shizune's voices approaching.

"Very well," He eventually said, "I'll come to you regularly to check on the quest's progression. You continue to learn medical ninjutsu, but don't forget to practice [Mind Heal] too."

And with that, he disappeared into an Instant Dimension.

* * *

 **Kurota's other clone's POV, a day later, at Konoha's academy**

* * *

The original made a clone and sent it to the Academy to let himself focus on his injuring training.

So here I was, waiting outside the classroom in the corridor.

"Dammit." I groaned as I looked at my inventory. Only four chakra pills remaining. Thank God the [Clever Genius] skill doubled their CP value… I was going to have to ask Chôji to teach me how to make them.

Before that, though, I had a class to teach.

"...your sensei has been called by the village for a mission," I heard Iruka explain to the class. He was the only teacher not called for a mission, due to his involvement in the children's education. "We appointed a recently graduated genin to replace her. I assure you he knows enough about Genjutsu to teach you. Kurota-kun? You can enter."

I opened the door and stepped inside, under the gazes of the kids.

"Good afternoon everyone," I greeted and got a chorus of 'good afternoon, Sensei' back.

"As Iruka-sensei explained to you, I will replace your usual Genjutsu teacher. I hope we'll get on."

"Sensei, Sensei!" Someone raised a hand, and I looked at her. "How was the graduating exam?"

"Relatively easy," I answered, and I noticed Iruka nod to me before leaving the room. "If you all study enough and don't spend your lives on video-games, you shouldn't have any problems."

 _Wait… There's something incredibly hypocritical about what I just said._

There were a few laughs in the class.

"Sensei!" Konohamaru called. "Is it true that you live with Naruto-nii-san?"

"Yes. Now let's begin. Do any of you know what is Genjutsu?" I changed the subject rapidly, sensing the class would assault me with questions if I didn't.

A few kids raised their hands, not as much as I would have expected. They were probably not used to me yet.

"Yes?"

"Illusions!"

"Not a wrong answer, but too vague." I turned to another. "Yes?"

"It's techniques to make someone else see things that don't exist!"

"Again, too vague." I noticed Hanabi in the back raising her hand. "Yes?"

She stood up.

"Hai, sensei. It means Illusionary Techniques. It is one of the main Jutsu categories which uses chakra. Unlike ninjutsu, the effects of Genjutsu are not real, being only illusions experienced by those who fall victim to it. According to the Second Mizukage, Genjutsu falls under the broad category of Yin Release."

Holy… Even I didn't know that so much.

"A textbook answer," I smiled, leaving her wondering if it was praise or critic.

"There are two types of Genjutsu," I began. "Those affecting only one person, and those you put on a specific place and that will fool everyone looking at it. Henge belongs to the last category.

In both cases, Genjutsu always target at least one of the five senses."

I paused, frowning. "What are you waiting for? Write it down."

They blinked and took out some paper. Soon, everyone was taking notes.

"Now… Tell me, do you know the different ways to free yourself from a Genjutsu?"

Again, a few hands were raised.

"You have to disrupt your chakra flow," One of Konohamaru's friend, an orange haired girl, spoke up.

"Good answer," I praised, "How do you do that?"

"U-uh..."

I kept smiling, but inwardly I was cursing.

 _Crap… I didn't look up the techniques to cancel Genjutsu, since I'm immune to it! Let's see…_

I used Accelerated Mind and used my 155 INT to dive into my memories to search for the answer.

 _What did Kurenai say again during our lessons?_

 _Genjutsu Kai…_

 _Pain…_

 _Sense obstruction…_

 _Conditioning…_

 _Chakra sensing..._

 _What else? Oh yeah, the Byakugan and Sharingan, so bloodlines..._

 _And pure observation coupled with intelligence. That's it, isn't it?_

"There is a technique called ' _Genjutsu Kai_ ', the Genjutsu dissipation, which can be done by the victims themselves, or by an ally who emits chakra into them. It can disrupt the chakra and break the caster's influence."

I paused to let them write.

"That is not the only way. Anyone else?"

"Hanabi-chan is immune to Genjutsu!" Someone pointed to Hinata's sister.

"Wrong," I said, and the kid who spoke up shrank on himself.

" _The Byakugan_ is immune to Genjutsu. Not Hanabi-chan herself. If for some reason she can't use it, she'll be vulnerable to Genjutsu.

There are bloodlines, like the Sharingan, the Byakugan, the Aburame's connection with their insects and… others, which can see through Genjutsu."

More scribbling.

"Yes?" I nodded to Konohamaru.

"Pain can help to cancel the illusion?" He seemed to ask me more than affirming it.

"That is right. The amount of pain needed increase with caster's level of Genjutsu.

Anything else?"

Silence. A few mutters.

"If the Genjutsu is not perfect, you can notice mistakes the caster made to detect a Genjutsu. In other words, if you're observant enough, or use logic to determine you are in a Genjutsu because the illusion does not make sense, you can sense the Genjutsu and break it if the caster's will is too weak. Mistakes are quite frequent, as a perfect Genjutsu requires excellent chakra control and high intelligence.

On a side note, chakra sensors can sense if their chakra is disrupted to detect illusions. In addition, their chakra sense is a sense that the caster doesn't know how to interact with. A chakra sensor can have his five senses affected, he'll still be able to sense the caster's chakra."

More writing.

"Conditioning techniques also exist and can help to resist Genjutsu. I do not know the details of it, however.

Anything else?"

I paused. Silence again.

"There are several sub-type of Genjutsu, such as ocular Genjutsu, or auditive Genjutsu." I stopped as I saw a kid raise his hand. "Yes?"

"If you yell over the noise of an auditive Genjutsu, will it break it?"

"Very good! Yes, through the obstruction of the sense affected, you can free the victim from the Genjutsu. For ocular Genjutsu, it would have to be a flash of light for example. Simply getting in the way doesn't always suffice, and it also depends on the caster's skill with his illusion. Even a strong enough smell can counteract a weak Genjutsu.

Now, enough theory. Everyone line up. I will cast a Genjutsu on each of you and you will have to free yourself from it."

There were apprehensive mutters and excited shouts as everyone either walked or ran down in front of me. The first one was Konohamaru.

"Now, now, everyone, quiet down. Observe how your comrade will do, it may serve you later." I turned to Konohamaru, who seemed awfully serious today.

"Ready?"

"Yeah!"

"..."

"Well? Kuro-sensei, you can cast it."

"I already did." I made my illusion talk. The rest of the class observed curiously as Konohamaru talked to an empty space. In reality, I was sitting on the teacher's desk.

"You did?" He scratched his head, looking around suspiciously.

"I don't know. You tell me." My illusion said, crossing his arms.

"Uh..."

He slapped himself.

"Aouch! It didn't work..."

A few kids laughed as Konahamaru continued to slap himself.

"Try using the Genjutsu kai technique," My clone suggested.

"Uh, yeah..." He formed a hand-seal and channeled his chakra.

"Move it around, in a way that feels unnatural to you." My illusion advised as I let him affect his chakra. "Disrupt your flow. Yes, like that..."

My illusion disappeared from Konohamaru's eyes, and he widened his eyes, turning to the real me. "I did it! YATAA!"

"Next." I smiled.

I continued casting illusions on each of them, rating them individually to get an idea of their level. It was on par with their CKRC and INT stat, most of the time. Some tried the Genjutsu Kai before I suggested it to them, while others failed to break the illusion. Only a few of them tried to avoid getting in the illusion, by not meeting my eyes or not touching me or covering their ears.

It was going pretty well, overall. Until the last one.

Hanabi Hyûga…

I hummed as she smirked and activated her Byakugan.

"Done!" She grinned happily, "There is nothing you can do, Kuro-sensei! My Byakugan's perception is as good as any fully grown Hyûga's. It's the purest of my family." She crossed her arms proudly.

I hummed again and scratched my chin.

"Really? There's definitely an illusion around though. One you can see."

"Impossible," She snorted as she looked around curiously. "How could you have..."

"I don't know," I smirked, "You tell me."

She shook her head. "Sensei," she sighed, "This is a waste of time. Can we go? It's dusk already."

"Is it?" I asked, smiling. "Is it really dusk already?"

Hanabi frowned as she looked at the windows, along with the others. True enough, the light coming inside the class was dimmed orange and red like it was at dusk.

"Half past four?!" A kid gasped as he looked at the clock.

Little Hanabi turned to me, eyes wide. "How did you…? My eyes can't see anything!"

I smiled as Aeris giggled next to me, in her spirit form.

With an air elemental, it was easy to manipulate the air's refractive index by manipulating his pressure and density.

A clear cloudless day-time sky was blue because molecules in the air scattered blue light from the sun more than they scattered red light. When we look towards the sun at sunset, we see red and orange colours because the blue light has been scattered out and away from the line of sight.

So I just had to manipulate the air to scatter the blue light and let the red and orange colours through the window.

"This," I waved my hand to the window, "is the most powerful Genjutsu of them all. One that does not affect your senses."

The kids looked at me, suspended to my words.

"I call it _Reality_."

* * *

 **Ino Yamanaka's POV, later that day**

* * *

Ino was having a fine day.

She was about to go out to eat at a good-old grilling restaurant, something she allowed herself to do very rarely, about twice a year, because of her diet. No one could know about that, ever.

She could already taste the forbidden food on her tongue...

Of course, it was ruined when yet another guy came up to ask her on a date. She sighed to herself. It happened occasionally, but come on, it had just been three weeks since the last one.

"Ino-san, would you care to go out to grab dinner with me, this evening?"

She turned to see Shino and Ami's teammate, Kôta Mizuno. Always smirking. The one that lost against Shikamaru in the preliminaries at the end of the second task.

"Sorry, I am already heading to the village's outline to do something." She said, to which the boy responded.

"I see," He smirked. Always smirking. Not his fault. Don't take it personally, Ino. "Well, that's where I was offering you to go. It seems we are both heading in the same direction, so why don't we go together?" He insisted.

Ino was about to reply sharply before she stopped herself. She couldn't have him know that she's going there to get herself some grilled meat and greasy fries!

Inwardly, she cursed. She set herself up…

It would be really mean to refuse his company.

She knew this guy wasn't bad by any means, but he was just so…

She looked back at up to him, smiling serenely.

With his spiky hair and the sword on his back, he had a little resemblance with Kurota. Except Kôta was always smirking at something.

That's right. Imagine any pretty nice boy who's just plainly nice and good-looking.

There's a lot, right? Do you remember all their names?

She thought so.

Sasuke-kun had something else to him. Kurota, too, since his graduation. Even Shino-san, if he didn't have his insects around, would have been pretty cool.

"Ah, sorry, I can't because..." she looked around, searching for a way out.

She immediately saw Kurota, hanging out with two girls she did not know.

* * *

 **Kurota's POV**

* * *

"Kurota-kun! Thank you for saving me during the battle! All this time I didn't know how to approach you, but..."

"Back off! Kurota danced with me at the Hyûga party. You think he'd be interested in a random girl he saved? He didn't do it because of you, he's just super kind and cool like that!"

I sighed as I walked home. Some girls had finally decided to make a move apparently. And damn it all if they angered the Hyûga family by doing so.

"No way!" The other scoffed, "How could anyone dance correctly with you? I bet you stepped on his feet!"

"Temeeee!"

"Ugh..." I closed my eyes in pain, being at the center of their shouts.

"Stop shouting!" I snapped. "Nobody walked on my feet."

"See? I told you..."

And they went back to their bickering. I was half tempted to disappear in an Instant Dimension, but I wasn't a bastard like Sasuke who didn't care about his fans.

It would be really mean to refuse their company. After all, we were headed in the same direction.

As I looked around for an excuse, I saw Ino dashing towards me, with a large - _suspicious_ \- schoolgirl smile, waving her hands as she called me.

"Kurotaaaa! Did you wait for me?" She said, obviously trying her best to seem overly happy and excited to see me.

Huh?

"What?" I blinked as the girls finally became quiet.

"Come on," She grasped my arm, but I resisted. "We made plans..."

"What?" I repeated. "What plans? I didn't make any plans..."

We started gathering attention around us, as several people had stopped to observe the scene.

"Play along!" Ino whispered worriedly, looking up at me with big eyes.

"..."

"Of couuuurse. How could I forget. How silly of me… The date. Of course..." I laughed awkwardly. That caused Ino to raise her eyes to the sky, for some reason.

"Oh my…" We heard a familiar voice. "Who would have thought that you had a date with Kurota-san this evening. So that's the true reason you didn't want us to meet up?"

"E-eh?" Ino gasped as we turned to the voice.

It was Sakura, who wore a victorious smile. With her teammates, Sasuke and Naruto. Kiba and Hinata were also walking towards us and would be there soon.

Ino was still holding my arm.

"Nooo!" She cried as she pulled me with her, running far away.

What did I get myself into…

* * *

 **Ino Yamanaka's POV, Later**

* * *

"Here is your steak with large fries and a large lemon shake, Yamanaka-san." the waitress smiled, placing their order before leaving.

"You've been here enough for people to know you by name and give you a discount?" Kurota Farasuke asked as he accepted his food.

Ino merely sighed, crossing her arms as she looked at the cause of her misfortune.

The fries, of course. What else?

This shake.

This steak.

How dare they.

She glared heatedly at them, to which they stood and did nothing.

"..."

"..."

She loved them. So much.

She removed a fry from the plate and placed it in her mouth.

The flavor, the salt, the way it went down her throat, only rarely did she-

"Ahem." A voice coughed, causing Ino snap out of her moment.

"I wouldn't mind you making that face a couple more times, but, why exactly am I here?" Kurota asked, having already finished his plate and now enjoying his shake… and entertainment, judging by his face.

Exactly how much time had she passed staring at her food?!

"Gaaah! You idiot! This is all your fault!" She complained, causing Kurota to tilt his head to the side.

"How is this my fault!" he asked, incredulous. "I'm pretty sure I did nothing to have you make that… expression you had earlier."

She glared at him. "You're the reason why people think we're dating now! Why couldn't you have just played along immediately before everyone showed up?" She pouted. "You were the one to specifically mention a date too..."

"I was just hanging out with two incredibly annoying girls, before you came out of nowhere, attacked me and dragged me here. You're pretty strong by the way…"

A girl's emotions allowed her to do many things.

"I didn't _attack_ you..." Ino faltered, realizing the hard truth. He was right… It _was_ her fault.

She looked down in depression, lamenting over the situation.

"Come on, it's not that bad." He tried to reassure her. "We can always tell everyone the truth, you wanted to be saved from that guy Kôta, I wanted to be rescued from the two girls… Cheer up, I'll buy you one of those meals you drool over. I mean, salivate over," He rectified when he saw Ino glaring at him.

"I didn't mean for that to happen," she said, "I didn't want to date you. No offense."

He shrugged. "None taken. It's a nice change."

"I needed you as an excuse to not spend time with someone," Ino admitted nervously.

"Me too." He shrugged again. "But why didn't you tell him that you just didn't want to go?"

"Because he was going to the same area that I was." She looked around nervously.

"Then what's the problem with that?" He continued.

"I didn't want people to know I ate here." The Yamanaka heiress finally admitted. That was the true reason she had searched for an excuse.

"What? Why not? This place has pretty good food, even if it's the unhealthiest."

"Exactly! As the Yamanaka heiress, I should not be eating at places like this. I am on a diet you know!"

He scoffed, looking disappointed.

"Another one of those public image thing… What a joke. I should have known, how typical of a clan heiress..." He put his drink down, deciding to end the topic.

"It's not that," She protested lowly, "Any bad image on my part may harm my clan's image… my father's reputation."

"Hmph… I don't know about that. I feel like it'd make you more approachable if you went here more often. If you see someone who doesn't want to 'mingle with the low civilians' you don't really want to buy their flowers. That makes them unrelatable, bigger, badder…

"Who would you buy flowers from, someone who spends time in public places eating fries normally – even if they're as unhealthy as these ones – or someone sitting on a little throne, dining with golden plates?"

"That's not-"

"It's exaggerated, I know. But it's the image you send. Trust me, I was a civilian. I still am. I know how they think. And don't talk to me about _diet_ ," He cut her as she opened her mouth again. "You can counter the calories by training! It would do you some good." He smirked and put a fry in her mouth.

She blinked. "What about the upper class? Like the Hyûgas. That's also someone who we want to buy our flowers." She explained.

"Well, let your dad handle them."

"But… I also worry about what my father would think if he found out that I'm behaving in that way." She said, causing him to frown.

"Dad issues, huh… I had those once..." He wondered sadly.

Ino just sighed again. "I… Sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up. I suppose you wouldn't understand..."

That caused Kurota to tilt his head again. He placed another one of her fries in her mouth.

"Bah. Instead of asking your dad how he'd feel if he found out you were eating here, why don't you ask yourself how he'd feel if he found out you were happy because of such a place?" He began. "Any dad caring for their daughter would start taking her to eat here."

Ino slowly enjoyed her fries for a bit, before softly answering.

"Because I don't know if he… if they..."

"If he does care? You can't be serious." He smiled, resting his head in his hand. "I think your dad cares about you a lot. After all, he didn't force you to approach me like the others, and for that, I respect your family. And even if he didn't care… Or if your clan as a whole didn't… Then who cares? If they don't care about you, you can do whatever you want! If they care, you're good. If worse comes to worse and they do something like _disown_ you..." He rolled his eyes to show what he thought of _that_ possibility, but she still shivered.

"Then you turn to your new family. Your team. As a genin, you are considered an adult, and as such, you don't need your father or your clan, because you have friends who are willing to be with you when they aren't. _We_ will be with you when they aren't. Even if that doesn't work, I promise you, Ino, that I can house you, because you are my friend." He finished with an honest smile.

* * *

 **Kurota's clone's POV (still with Ino)**

* * *

Ino stared at me with an expression I couldn't quite discern. Awe, admiration, gratitude, shock. A mixture of those.

"… Thank you, Kurota." She said softly. "For being here this evening."

"Anything for my date!" I tried a joke. It wasn't every day Ino was this vulnerable, and he would be damned if he didn't take advantage of it by making fun of her.

Still, he expected a bit of a reaction.

"What?" Ino asked.

" Oh. Nothing. I just thought you'd get at least a bit angry." That caused her to smirk.

"Aw~ It's like you're conditioned already. Like a pet." She laughed, causing me to curse inwardly at how we'd switched places.

"Hmph. I bet you'd love to have me has a pet." I stepped up my game, causing her to blush a bit before she decided to sit next to me instead of across.

"Getting close?" I asked nervously. My personal space…

She hugged me. _Personal space_!

I tried to lift her away awkwardly, but somehow that resulted in her positioning herself on my lap.

"Uh, better?" I asked.

"Yes..." She replied softly and wrapped an arm around me. Suddenly, I remembered a conversation with my mother.

" _..."_

" _Kurota. When someone hugs you, that means that person wants to comfort you or that she seeks comfort. It could also be to show affection."_

" _Why are you telling me that all of a sudden?" I asked._

" _So that you know it doesn't mean whoever hugs you loves you in a romantic way. Since your father told me you're becoming popular… I don't want you going around assuming every single move a girl makes involves romantic feelings. But I don't want you to go around shattering their poor hearts either! You hear me, Kuro-chan?"_

" _Yes, mom." I rolled my eyes. "And don't call me that."_

" _..."_

What about sitting on laps? It was probably just like a hug, right? She probably wanted to comfort me because of my parents… Or was to comfort herself? Or…

 _Dammit! I really suck at this stuff. I'm overthinking things._

"Thank you, Kurota." She said again.

"Uh… Anything for my date?" I tried, before looking at the fries she left behind. They were going to get cold. "Now, open up, you have to eat your fries." I began to feed her as she obeyed and enjoyed… their taste. Probably. Surely.

* * *

 **Later.**

* * *

"Okay… I'll go back home now. Naruto and Tenten are probably waiting for me."

With the various Genjutsu I cast on the whole class earlier, I was nearly out of chakra and would dispell soon.

"Yes… we need to go back." She nodded.

"What about the rumors?" I asked, causing Ino to frown.

"What about them?"

"Well… You don't want people to believe we are dating, right?" I asked, to which Ino shrugged, before bringing me close.

"Why not? We are dating now, after all." She said, causing me to nearly fall on the ground.

"We are?" I repeated, confused, before I understood. "Ah… How are you planning on the break up then?"

"There is none." She responded.

"But then-"

"Kurota. I think… I'd like it if you were my boyfriend." Ino declared, expressionless.

* * *

 **Ino Yamanaka's POV**

* * *

Kurota stayed quiet, as Ino waited for an answer. Her face was getting brighter as she replayed what she just said in her head.

His eyes had widened and had adopted that quick vivacity as they almost trembled… He was thinking. Thinking very, very fast.

There were several reasons as to why she had chosen to make that decision, and some of them were rather cold, despite what some external observers might have thought from them back in the restaurant. They had looked like the perfect couple.

He would shield her against people like Kôta. Although she tried not to think about it too much, getting romantic propositions was happening more and more often, and they were more driven by her status as an heiress than anything else.

She would return the favor by shielding him from his admirers. She was sure he understood that.

Kurota Farasuke was intelligent, a genius, a prodigy in his own right. And also, she realized now, a precious friend. There was something wrong with him though… In the way he changed back before graduation, at the Academy. Too sudden… he went from an emotional mess to the master of poker faces. Almost worst than Shino-san.

She wanted to know more about him. To help him in his social awkwardness, and she was sure he would be grateful to have an excuse to refuse engagement proposals. She was aware of the attention he had brought upon himself, of course, who wasn't.

She was sure he would be able to see her reasons from what they were, with his genius. Although... if he wanted to try something genuine she would definitely like the idea and try it out...

Sasuke was cool and all that, but he really didn't care about her. Kurota showed that he considered her a friend and would help her should she get in trouble. That really warmed her heart to have such a dependable friend.

She wanted to help him too, in his fight against the clans. She was perfect to do that, The Yamanaka family was perhaps the only clan which wasn't interested in him to the point of pushing her in his direction like the Hyûga were doing with Hinata.

If he was going to get engagement proposals in the future, he just had to point to her and say 'sorry, I'm taken'. And it would work well, too, since she was a clan heiress, the other families would accept it more easily than if he had dated a civilian girl. They would have taken it as a personal insult.

There was also a bit of a... _scientific_ interest. No, call it a curiosity. No, that wasn't it either... Let's say she wanted to find out how the previously emotional, now completely chill, Kurota would fare in a relationship with a girl.

As seconds passed, she found herself blushing, wondering what he was thinking as she looked into his 'accelerated' eyes.

"…Okay." He finally said with a knowing smile, although his cheeks had darkened.

"R-really?" Ino gasped.

"…My princess!" he laughed suddenly and lifted her up above him.

"H-hey! D-don't do that!" She blushed. That bastard! "O-oi! It's heiress, not princess! Put me down!"

He laughed again as he raised her in the sky, and eventually, she found herself laughing with him.

They joked and messed around like that for a bit, before he sighed.

"Sorry... I really have to go now."

"Ah… Then, we'll see each other tomorrow?"

"Okay," he agreed easily and started walking away. "I'll have to go to the Akimichi restaurant though. I need to ask Chôji something."

"All right," she smiled."Tomorrow then, Tuesday! It's a _date_!" She challenged as he was leaving.

He looked back at her, amused.

"Of course, you silly." he lectured. "That's what _days_ are for!"

Ino blinked confusedly at his back as he moved away.

"..."

… Was that a joke or...?

* * *

 **A/N: HAH! Didn't expect that, did ya?**

 **Hopefully there won't be a wave of angry shippers in the comments.**


	48. Chapter 45

**I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

* * *

 **Ugh, I kept writing and deleting and rewriting this chapter, never quite happy with it. This is what came out of it, and it's shorter than usual as a consequence.**

 **I clarify the nature of the pairing in this one. Let me remind you that you only got Ino's pov in the last chapter, and some of you jumped to conclusions even before seeing what Kurota thought. I hope things will be clearer after that.**

 **Anyway, here it is.**

* * *

 **Kurota's POV**

* * *

"I'm back," I called as I entered the house, "Sorry I'm a bit late."

"Kuro?" Naruto blinked, "Didn't you have a date with Ino?"

"Huh?"

What was he on about?

"Didn't you have plans for this evening?" He frowned.

"What? What plans? I didn't make any plans..."

"But she grabbed you," he said. "Eh, whatever. Not my problem!"

What the… I stared at him, eyes tight and worried. What did my clone do this time? Oh god...

"You're here?" Tenten raised an eyebrow when I entered the kitchen. "I thought you were eating with Ino, so I didn't cook for you. Congrats, by the way, I didn't think you'd go for her."

"What…? Why would I..." I stopped myself as I received my clone's memories.

Oh.

Ooh…

"Forget it," I said to Tenten, waving my hand, "That's right… I already had dinner. Unhealthy, delicious dinner..."

"Come on Naruto!" I heard Tenten call as I made my way upstairs. "It's almost ready!"

I sat on my bed, thinking about my clone's actions as I stared at the stars through the roof's hole.

Not a bad decision. It was perfect, actually, if you thought about it politically and logically.

Having a girlfriend would dissuade not only admirers, but also the other clans from making proposals.

' _But, Kurota, you're really heartless. How can you do that to Ino? What if she really loves you?'_ An innocent voice asked in my head.

It died instantly.

 _Hahaha._ Ino had been pretty clever, I had to admit. The way she asked me out had been smart and subtle.

She didn't say: ' _I like you! C_ _ould_ _you be my boyfriend?'_

No, instead she said: _'_ _I think_ _I'd like it if you were my boyfriend.'_

And _that_ sentence made all the difference. What made me understand her true reasons. She didn't confess... So I was pretty sure Ino didn't like me in a romantic way, and she knew I knew that; that I was smart enough to read between the lines. We were friends, and this relationship would just help us both against our respective fans.

It was a win-win. Although we would have to go out regularly to maintain that front for the others. The way my clone had acted was a bit… embarrassing: lifting Ino around like that and calling her 'his princess', but it was necessary to fool the ones that were observing us. Not only the civilians that were in the restaurant, but also a couple ninjas that were keeping an eye on me, like always, _even_ during these hard times for the village. Probably Danzô's men, or the even the Hyûga.

To top it all off, only the Yamanaka clan could be able to see through our act. And that was perfect since they didn't care about me! Be it Inoichi Yamanaka or Ino herself, they had no particular desire to learn about my secrets. In fact, her father wanted to _help_ me. He would let his daughter do what she wanted when he was going to realize it was all fake.

And! Icing on the cake! I get to experience dating a girl without any pressure! If she or I screw it all up, that would be fine, both of us wouldn't care anyway!

If worst comes to worst and I really sucked at dating a girl, she'd just dump me and we'd continue our own separate ways and -hopefully- remain friends!

Alone in my room, I laughed diabolically. _Perfect_. Really, conveniently, beautifully, _perfect_. Just what I needed against the clans.

 _Ino really nailed this. As expected of her, she's good with social interactions, I'll have to find a way to thank her. Come to think of it, her helping me like that means she gave up on Sasuke…_

 _Huh. Now if I can get Sasuke to do the same and get a girlfriend to fend off his fan-girls, that would be pretty funny…_

I started laughing even louder.

* * *

 **Kurota's POV , The day after.**

* * *

Things were pretty awkward, to say the least.

It was lunch time. We were eating at the Akimichi restaurant.

There was a bit of whisper and stares around us, but nothing new for me or Ino.

In contrast with the absolute silence that reigned at our table, however, it was a bit disturbing.

Ino was currently lecturing me on how to be the perfect boyfriend, to which I nodded in lazy understanding.

The rest of the table stared. Finally, I decided to speak up.

"Okay… You know you can always ask instead of watching us like we're aliens."

That caused them to blink. "Sorry," Kiba smiled to me. "It's just so strange and..."

"Out of nowhere." Shikamaru nodded.

My team and Ino's team had decided to invite themselves with us, and that included Kurenai-sensei, who had just come back from her mission, and Asuma. I suspected they just wanted a reason to meet without it being an official date, but I supposed that was okay.

Kiba became really relaxed since he learned about Ino and I. It was like a weight was lifted off his shoulders, like some responsibility had finally disappeared. I had theorized that his clan had been pushing him to invite me to their domain and present me to whoever the heiress was. Something he apparently felt really bad about.

Kiba was a good guy.

Hinata too seemed more relaxed in my presence, for obvious reasons. She didn't really smile, however, or if she did, it didn't reach her eyes. That meant her family had still given her instructions... It made me want to raid the Hyûga domain and beat some sense into them.

Shikamaru and Chôji, of course, were pretty chill. They seemed to like the development, although they had looked at me as if I was a madman at first.

Kurenai-sensei… She didn't look impressed.

"What happened to your hair?!"

"Uh..."

" _..."_

" _We'll have to cut that hair." Ino crossed her arms. "It hides too much of your face, and it's way too long. People could mistake you for a girl you know?"_

" _Sure, if it really bothers you that much." I shrugged._

" _How can you even see properly like that?"_

 _In response, I activated my eyes. They were shining a blue light through my hair._

" _Oh yeah… Forgot about that. Anyway, I've always wanted to try hairdressing."_

" _Wait,_ you _'ll be the one to…?"_

" _That's right!" She took a scary pair of scissors out, "Now, sit down, don't move…"_

" _I have a bad feeling about that..."_

" _..."_

Fortunately, she didn't screw up too much, and my hair was now comparable to Kiba's. Her cutting my hair meant that I had to be with her as the original, however, and made me lose time on my training.

"He's better with short hair!" Ino spoke up, challenging Kurenai's glare.

"I preferred it long." She sighed. "Short is fine when the hair is nothing special, but his was nice and soft, it's such waste!"

"You prefer long hair?" Azuma spoke up, interested.

"Hey Chôji," I called while they were arguing. I didn't really care about my hair, I could be bald it wouldn't bother me. "Can I buy you some chakra pills? I'd also like to learn how to make them if possible."

"Sure," he grinned as he munched on his food. Somehow he had found a technique to munch and speak coherently at the same time. "The Akimichi's chakra pills are the best, but I can't teach you how to make them. I still know how to make the standard ones, though, I can show you that some time. Here's one of my clan's."

He tended me a large, greenish pill.

' _Observe.'_

* * *

 **[Advance grade Chakra Pill – Rank: Epic]**

 **An advanced grade special pill that replenish one's chakra and nourish the body. It is made up of powerful stimulants and nutrients by the Akimichi clan.**

 **Tastes like meat.**

 **Instantly recovers 10860 CP.**

 **Clever Genius Bonus: Additional 5430 CP recovered if fed by yourself.**

 **Clever Genius Bonus: Additional 5430 CP recovered if eaten by yourself.**

* * *

"Wow…" I breathed, "Are you sure?"

"Don't worry about it," He grinned.

Chôji was a good guy.

"Thanks, man! I'll buy some others."

"Why do you want them?" Ino asked curiously. "Do you need chakra pills so bad you want to learn how to make them?"

"Why not? It'd be a good thing to know," I shrugged. "I heard some of them can keep you going for three days."

"I suppose," She agreed as she stared curiously at the pill. "I wonder if they're high calories-"

I glared at her, putting the pill away. "Inoooo… What did I tell you about diets?"

"U-uh," she winced, looking away, "I mean, I was just curious..."

"You can't start a diet made of pills," I lectured and picked up one of her fries. "Now, eat up." I placed it in her mouth.

"I-idiot! Not in front of everyone!" She blushed, to which I smirked.

"Why not? You didn't mind yesterday," I teased before she snapped my hand away and forced a whole steak up my mouth.

"There! How does it feel, huh?!" Ino grinned victoriously.

"MY STEAK!" Chôji yelled angrily, eyes flashing red.

"Oh shi-" My eyes widened.

"Raaah!" He roared and jumped across the table, coming for me.

 _Boom!_

* * *

 **Kurota's clone's POV**

* * *

After managing to calm Chôji down by buying him two other steaks, even if he still resented Ino for wasting such good food, the original produced a clone and went back to his training as soon as they finished eating.

"What to do now..." I muttered to myself after watching the original disappear in an Instant Dimension with an explosion of smoke.

I could have gone with Ino, but I didn't have that need to follow the person I was dating wherever she went, due to the nature of our relationship.

"Kuro-chan!" Someone called me.

I turned and saw Kurenai had caught up with me, and Asuma following after her.

"Don't call me that. What is it, Sensei?"

"What was that with Ino?" She asked, "Why… How did it happen?"

I hummed, considering how to answer. "She asked me out," I shrugged eventually.

She blinked. "I know that, but why did you accept?"

I paused. "She asked me out," I repeated eventually.

"What kind of answer is that? Does that mean... the first to ask you out wins?!"

"I guess." I shrugged again, causing Azuma to laugh. He stopped when Kurenai glared at him.

"But… Kurota. Do you even like her?" She asked.

"Of course!" I frowned, to which Kurenai shook her head, amazed.

"Well... it's all good then," she said carefully, still a bit confused. "But what about Hinata-chan?"

"What about her?" I raised an eyebrow and suddenly noticed Kakashi leaning against a wall near a restaurant.

"Hey!" He called when he saw Kurenai and Asuma, providing a welcome distraction. "Are you on a date? You guys look good together..."

"Idiot! We're just going in the same direction..." Kurenai scoffed as Azuma laughed.

 _Yeah right…_

 _Wait a minute._ Who were those shady guys nonchalantly sitting in the restaurant, listening to our conversation?

* * *

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Itachi Uchiha**

* * *

 **?*?*?*?*?*?*?*?**

 **Lv? Kisame Hoshigaki**

* * *

I blinked.

When I reopened my eyes, they had already disappeared.

"Kakashi-sensei? You're not late this time? That's rare," I heard Sasuke speak. Was he the reason his brother suddenly left? Or did they see me notice them?

"Uh, guys…" I spoke up urgently, "There's-"

A hand surged on my mouth, silencing me. It was Kurenai's… She was glaring at me.

I watched as Sasuke looked in the restaurant, noticing the two mugs his brother and his companion had left behind.

"I was planning on buying something for myself," he groaned, irritated, and spared me a glance.

"Yeah." Kakashi shrugged.

Then the three Jônins exchanged nods, apparently understanding each other, and Kurenai and Asuma jumped away.

I looked at Kakashi. "Am I suppose to just ignore that, or…?"

"What is it, Kurota?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at me. "Kurenai and Asuma are going to take care of it. Don't worry."

"I doubt that… Do you even know who that was?" I asked him.

A genjutsu expert against Itachi Uchiha? From what I heard of him, that wasn't going to go well… That meant the Jônins didn't know who they were up against.

I glanced at Sasuke. If he knew… He would definitely go after his brother.

"What?" He frowned, narrowing his eyes.

"Sorry Sasuke, no training today," Kakashi said, before shunshining away.

"What was that?" The Uchiha frowned.

"Two missing nins they're going to apprehend," I said, to which he groaned.

"I figured something was wrong." He crossed his arms as he looked back at the table in the restaurant. "Konoha's defense is really at its lowest, letting two missing-nins enter the village."

"It was never very high in the first place," I chuckled. "Let's warn some Jônins then," I suggested to which he nodded. We jumped in different directions.

I was not going to bring more attention on myself by following after them, even if I was a bit worried for Kurenai-sensei. So I made another shadow clone and together we warned the most Jônins possible.

Even if I didn't risk anything as a clone, there was no reason to go after them when I could just warn the whole village of their presence.

"Kurota!" Someone called me.

It was Gai, Tenten's sensei.

"Did you see Lee?" He asked with a preoccupied frown.

"No, but I saw two missing-nins." I replied, and his eyes widened. "Kurenai-sensei, Kakashi and Asuma are fighting them. If my chakra sense was right, they should still be around the river. I'll continue to warn Jônins."

He nodded rapidly and disappeared instantly, creating a burst of wind.

I continued my search.

"Mitarashi-san?" I called Anko Mitarashi who was currently eating some Dangos.

"Kurota-kun? What is it?" She raised an eyebrow. I didn't really know her aside from the Chunin exam's second task, but apparently, she knew me.

"Missing-nins are at the river fighting Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, and soon Gai. I'm warning Jônins to help them."

"Hmph… They can probably handle it, but you never know." She finished her dangos and shunshined.

I continued running around, grinning. They were going to have all Konoha after their asses at this rate.

Soon, the whole village knew that two missing-nins had made it in the village. They probably learned their identity too, since even Danzô's man that had been monitoring me had left me alone for the first time since what felt forever.

 _I hope Sasuke didn't find out..._

* * *

 **Later**

* * *

Turns out they escaped. Dammit.

' _Well at least I tried.'_ I thought as I entered my house, feeling a bit disappointed.

I found Naruto trying to lift a gigantic bag.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked.

"A-ah… I got my mission! I'm going on a trip with Ero-sennin! What the? Your hair! It's all gone!"

"Cut it. You're going with Jiraiya?" I raised an eyebrow. "The bastard! He didn't invite me."

"He's going to teach me a badass Jutsu!"

"That bastard!" I cursed again. "Well, fine. You have fun. You can't go with a bag you can't lift though."

I opened his bag and threw all the useless things aside. Mostly Ramen and orange clothes.

"There!" I sighed and patted his back. "Man, you really need new clothes. How much time will you be away?"

"I dunno…" He shrugged, scratching his head. "As soon as we find whoever we're searching for. I'd say a month?"

"A month..."

A month alone with Tenten? Crap. Ino could never find out.

"All right!" Naruto shouted as he jumped outside. "When I come back, I'll kick your ass, Kuro!"

"Sure. Why not."

"Teme! Stop acting like you don't care!"

"I'm not acting. I don't actually care." I smirked.

"We'll see that when I come back! I'll make you care you prick!" He shouted angrily and ran away, grumbling something under his breath.

"That's cute." I laughed to myself. "Now, how am I going to announce that to Tenten?"

* * *

 **Later**

* * *

"Naruto's gone for a month?" Tenten repeated.

"Yeah?"

"All right then. It'll be quieter." She smiled at me.

"I … guess?"

Tenten frowned. "What's on your mind? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I said a bit too fast.

"Liar!" She grinned and caught my shirt before I could escape. "Is it about Ino? Huuh?"

"Nah."

"You can tell your senpai, Kuro-chan."

"Don't call me that!" I groaned as I remembered my mother. "Come on, it's a bit early, but let's eat."

"All right, whatever you say," She rolled her eyes with a teasing smile. " I see you've cut your hair. I preferred it longer."

"Hmph, of course you would say that."

She frowned as she busied herself in the kitchen. "What do you mean by that?"

"I dunno. You liking long hair is totally unrelated to a certain Hyûga in your team, right?"

"Hah!" She laughed. "I'm not telling you! And I don't know what you're talking about! Hah, you're crazy, Kurota. Crazy."

"Suuure," I smirked as I put the plates on the table.

At this moment, someone knocked on the door.

"I'll get it!" I shouted to Tenten as I opened the door.

I found myself staring into two sharingan.

Itachi Uchiha.

"Hello!" I greeted as [Gamer's Mind] suddenly burst in action, spreading calm and sangfroid in my mind. "How may I help you? The shop has closed due to the damage of the battle a few days ago."

 _I'm not supposed to know them. If they knew that I knew they'd kill me. Maybe they'll just live if I play innocent?_

"Kurota Farasuke?" His companion, Kisame, groaned. I noticed they weren't wearing any protective foreheads under their hats.

"That's me." I nodded cordially. _Shit…_ Right when I needed Danzô's escort, they weren't here!

"Kurota-kun. We would like you to come with us." Itachi Uchiha asked surprisingly politely.

"Why? I can't go now, I'm about to have dinner." I said innocently.

 _Let's not make any rash move… Think fast. Why me? What could they possibly need from me?_

 _Was it for the Mind's Power? The elementals? Ruri? Psychokinesis? Just my genius? Or..._

"It's urgent," Itachi explained calmly. "We know what you can do. We would like you to heal a friend."

 _Mind Heal? They need my Mind Heal?_

I was a clone, but very soon the original was going to come back from his training. Should I go with them? I wouldn't risk anything since I was a clone… And it would protect Tenten and the original, while also gaining time.

"Tenten!" I called to the kitchen, causing the two monsters in the entrance to stiffen. "I'm going for a walk! Don't cook for me!"

"You're the worst!" She replied from the kitchen. "I already… Screw it!" She cursed and we heard some water splashing on the ground. "Damn it!"

"See ya!" I shouted to her.

Nodding to myself, I rapidly stepped outside and closed the door as Itachi and Kisame surrounded me, not letting Tenten the time to glance at us.

Should I alert the village again? No… they already easily escaped earlier despite the army I sent after them, and they would go after the original once they found out I was a clone. It wasn't like they couldn't come back for the real me.

While alerting the village that would make them flee and leave me alone, it didn't really matter since I was a clone. I might as well flee with them to avoid needless bloodshed, and to make them lose more time.

 _Once I dispel and the original learn about this, they'll be far away._

Not only that, but they could also possibly threaten my mother's life if I didn't comply, judging by how much they knew.

 _Even the original can't take them on. We focused on our healing training..._

"Let's talk as we walk," I proposed them, trying to buy time and get away from my house, where the original would soon come back. "How injured is your friend? I wish I could heal anything, but I can't yet…"

"You can't." Itachi agreed. "Know that our friend can heal your mother. But he needs your help first. He cannot move."

My eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"Yes." the Uchiha nodded. "We do not know the full extent of his injuries, but we know he is severely weakened. Your technique could help him."

' _So they're acting on orders?'_ I guessed.

"You can heal my mother..." I whispered to myself.

They sure knew how to tempt someone…

"How do I know if your friend will help my mother after I help him? I say, heal my mother first, I'll heal your friend after."

Kisame let out a growl as his hand rose to the handle of the sword on his back. Itachi raised his arm, however, and the shark-faced man stopped.

"We heard your mother will not survive for long," He declared, narrowing his eyes at me, and for the first time I noticed he seemed a bit... tired? "A matter of weeks. I don't think you can afford to refuse our offer. Regardless, you can trust us. We _will_ heal your mother."

Pretty words… but I could not afford to trust them, _obviously_ _._

However, I was not in position to refuse either. If they came here for me, they could knock me out and kidnap me should I refuse their offer. They could also threaten my mother's life, and I didn't trust Konoha to protect her these days. It was a good thing I was a clone…

It was also the opportunity to learn more about them, without risking my true body.

"Very well," I accepted, faking my reluctance, "I'm still perfecting my technique, but I trust you," I lied, "Where do we go then?"

Instantly, Itachi shunshined us to the top of the Hokage monument.

"We still have to get someone else," The Uchiha said.

"That was easier than I thought," Kisame smirked, "If only they could all be as cooperative as this one. Might be a bit boring though..."

"Let's go," Itachi said.

"I don't get to take some things with me? Aren't I going to need a bag if we're going for a trip?" I complained innocently, but a hand slammed on my shoulder, gripping me firmly.

"Stop whining." The shark-faced man threatened, "Or I cut off one of your hands."

 _Ping!_

 **[Detect Killing Intent]'s level has risen by one!**

"..."

"..."

"..."

Fan-freaking-tastic… How the hell did I _always_ manage to get myself in these situations?

* * *

 **Kurota's POV**

* * *

Dinner was quiet tonight.

Without Naruto, and with Tenten deep in her thoughts, it was difficult to make conversation. I also had some stuff I was worried about.

I didn't receive my clone's memories yet.

Generally speaking, my clones tended to do all sort of crazy things when I was not looking, just because they were clones and didn't risk dying.

Last time a clone was late to dispel, I got a girlfriend.

There was also the other clone who still didn't want to dispel and had somehow managed to get a weird quest that had him cross-dress as a girl. All of that while taking a disciple and becoming one as well.

That was the kind of thing that tended to happen when I left them alone. If they weren't busy meeting Shinigamis or fighting Kages, of course.

 _Hmmm… I wonder what this one will come up with._

* * *

 **Kurota's clone's POV, the day after**

* * *

We were currently walking towards the entrance of a town. The trip had been rather awkward.

Around us, the birds and cicadas sang, the wind flowing through the creaking trees. We could hear the sound of water splashing violently in the distance, in a constant stream. A river.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The silence was getting on my nerves. They really didn't speak much. Only one worded answers and grunts and 'Hn's. As expected from an Uchiha.

I decided to speak up, trying once again to kill the silence between us.

"So… Ever played Zelda?"

"..."

"..."

"… I thought not." I sighed.

Really, it was depressing.

* * *

 **Kurota's Clone's POV**

* * *

"No, no, no, you have to knead it better, like this! You're wasting our ingredients!" Chôji lectured as he showed me once again how to properly knead the ball of food.

"How does so much food stick in such a small thing," I groaned as I mimicked his movements, getting his approval. "So that's why they're so expensive!"

We were in my house's kitchen, and Chôji was currently teaching me how to craft pills.

"We isolate the nutrients that boost chakra capacity and chakra recovery, and stimulate the body's digestive organs as well to accelerate the pills treatment by the body," Chôji instructed as he bit a crisp. "Also, in order to get the right reaction, we have to select various food. There can be hundreds of different ingredients in just one pill!"

"In Akimichi ones, maybe," I retorted grumpily. "But we're trying to make the simplest ones. I can't learn how to run if I can't even stand on my own!"

He growled again. "But it's such a waste! There so much more we could do with these ingredients..."

"Ugh..." I covered my face with my hands as Chôji continued to rant on the efficiency of making pills. "Come on Chôji… I'll buy you ramen at Ichiraku's."

He stopped instantly, face turning serious. "Why didn't you say that sooner! You can just had various ingredients and compress them together, as long as they're highly chakra nutritive or boost the digestive system, you'll make something useful eventually. Also, add more water, and make sure it is compressed to the maximum."

My eye twitched. That was all? It didn't seem hard at all!

I started Observing each ingredient we bought earlier at the market, and selected the ones more nutritive than average.

* * *

 **Kurota's _other_ clon…no, let's call it _Hitomi's POV_. Damn it.**

* * *

 **Chain Quest [1/3]: Days remaining: 7**

* * *

It's been a week since I started learning under Tsunade and Shizune.

The amount of knowledge I absorbed was staggering to them. They had rapidly understood that I was a genius, and Tsunade adapted her training in consequence.

As a result, I was now sitting at 76 CKRC. Plus ten points in a week… The stat was increasing so much faster than when I had been training alone. It consumed lots of chakra, but thankfully the original had begun purchasing Akimichi chakra pills. There were also new, weak pills appearing in the inventory.

* * *

 **[Lowest grade Chakra Pill – Rank: Poor]**

 **A poorly crafted pill that slowly replenishes one's chakra and keeps the body from starving.**

 **Tastes like overcooked meat.**

 **Gradually recovers 100 CP.**

 **Clever Genius Bonus: Additional 50 CP recovered if fed by yourself.**

 **Clever Genius Bonus: Additional 50 CP recovered if eaten by yourself.**

* * *

The original's first tentative at making a chakra pill. Not much compared to the others, but every bit counted. It didn't seem too bad for a beginner.

I was currently walking in town towards a casino, where Tsunade and Shizune had supposedly gone to gamble once again. Hiromasa was following me.

There was something strange about this town. A sense of deja-vu.

I came here before, I knew it. I can't seem to remember when and for what though, even with my 100 Int. It must have been way back when I was just a child.

I stopped as I looked into a side-street, a residential district.

 _This street. I recognize it… What is this place?_

"Hiromasa, you go on ahead. I have something to check."

"All right, sensei!"

I didn't even react to the name, focused on the street. I continued to explore the district, trying to remember the ones I knew.

My eyes widened as I came in front of a huge manor.

 _This house. I know it, I've been here… Should I knock the door to see for myself?_

As I hesitated, a voice spoke up behind me.

"Kuro? Is that you?!"

I turned to the disbelieving voice.

A sculpted figure, holding two shopping bags.

Soft brown hair, flowing over her shoulders.

Emerald eyes under which were dark rings, displaying a lack of sleep.

Angel-white teeth, lips stirred up in a surprised smile, holding a cigarette.

It was... my mother?

* * *

 **Legendary Scientist**

 **Lv26 Sakiko Mifune**

* * *

Well… Not exactly.

"…Aunt Sakiko?"

* * *

 **A/N: So I'm not fully focusing on the romance as you can see, even though it's still there.**

 **Thanks for reading, see you next week.**


	49. Chapter 46

**I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

* * *

 **I had problems uploading this chapter on the site. I kept getting error messages. I eventually managed after a while, but unfortunately, this glitch extends to sending docXs to Connections. As a consequence, my beta-reader didn't get a chance to proof-read this. Dammit.**

* * *

 _"...Aunt Sakiko?"_

"Hah, it's really you!" She grinned, dropping her bags to hug me in her breasts. "It's been so long! What are you doing here? Where's Sachiko? Ah, come in, come in, gonna make some tea!"

I had a bit of time before meeting Tsunade, so I nodded and lifted up her bags, getting a smile in return. She opened the door and we entered the manor.

The rooms in there… they brought a whole new meaning to the word 'mess'.

"Where should I put them?" I asked, looking around curiously. Cases were stacked everywhere, some opened, some empty. Some were spilled on the floor, and there were cobwebs in the corners.

"I dunno, find some place!"

 _Gee, thanks._

I pushed a door open with a crack, but it refused to go further. I frowned as I activated my World's True Vision. A mountain of laundry was stuffed up against it on the other side.

 _Not here._

I tried another one, only to find a giant room with a dozen of small tables, on which were laying various gadgets and electric devices.

 _Not here._

Instead, I went to the kitchen, where a stinking smell was emanating from the opened refrigerator. Food was splattered all over the microwave, and dirty dishes were sitting in the sink.

But there was some place, down below the table, where I put the bags down.

I glanced at the dishes.

 _It wouldn't take me a minute to clean all of them._

I started washing the dirty dishes at an insane speed, every cutlery shining clean after just one wipe.

As I busied myself, I brought up the quest panel.

* * *

 **Quest reset!**

 **Days remaining: 14**

* * *

Back to zero... Better than straight up failure I supposed. Why did it reset instead of failed? What was the rule behind it? Did I have a limited number of failures or was it just because Aunt Sakiko knew me from when I was just a toddler?

 _What an annoying quest. It'll take forever to complete it if it keeps resetting each time I meet someone who knew me from before. Regardless, it shouldn't happen anymore._

I sighed as I dried the last dish and came back to the living room. The woman was trying to make some place for us by lifting a strange machine off a sofa.

Aunt Sakiko… It's been years since I've seen her. Konohagakure wasn't exactly easy to visit, and from what I remembered, she was always over-busy making random gadgets. It didn't help that my parents thought she was a bad influence on me.

But she made me an improved video-game console one day. So she was cool in my book.

"Take a sit, Kuro-chan!" She grinned as she threw the machine down some stairs that were probably leading to a basement. I winced as I heard it tumbling and crashing down there. She hurriedly put two mugs on the kitchen table.

I glanced at my quest information. It didn't seem to have reset despite talking to my aunt.

"It's been a while," I smiled as I sat on the sofa.

"What's up?" She leaned back in her own, resting her legs on a low table. She tended me a pack of cigarette. "Ya smoke?"

"No, thanks..."

"Not yet, eh?"

As I said… Pretty bad influence.

"Listen, auntie..." She grinned again when she heard me using her old nickname, "Lots of things happened. During the battle at Konohagakure… Did you hear?"

"Nope," she leaned forward with an eyebrow raised. "I don't hear much news, I'm focused on my projects. Your parents, they're okay?"

I took a deep breath. "… Dad died."

She opened her mouth, dropping her cigarette on the table.

"Oh, shit..." She cursed. "Fusoku… I didn't like him much, but… How did Sachiko take it?"

"She doesn't know. She…" I took another breath. "She's in coma. She's been badly injured."

She blinked, picking up her cigarette, and started munching angrily at it.

"Damn. That's Konohagakure for you I guess. Damn."

She frowned at her tea mug, crossing her arms. "How bad is it?"

"Pretty bad," I groaned, "but I'll come up with a solution. We'll heal her."

She sighed, leaning back on her sofa. "If you say so." She said eventually.

I frowned as I stared at her. She seemed a bit apathetic to the news, even if it seemed to have wasted her good mood.

"So what are you doing here? I..." she shuffled nervously, and her expression became sorry. "I can't really help you. Medicine's not my cup of tea. I'm more in the physics, you know?"

"I know, I was just passing by." I sighed, standing up. "It was good to see you."

"Wait!" She followed after me as I walked to the entrance. "What do ya mean, passing by? You can stay a bit more! Or we should go back to Konoha to figure out a solution!"

"I have the solution," I said as I stepped outside, "I'm meeting Tsunade. She's training me so I can become able to heal mom's paralysis."

"Tsunade's in town? Why can't she do it herself then?" She wondered, "I'm coming with you. I'll talk her into it."

"Auntie..."

"What? You can't talk me out of it!"

"She can't because she has haemophobia." I explained as I turned to face her.

"Bullshit." She called, smirking and pointing her finger to the sky. "She played you. She just has too many debts to go back to Konoha."

"That..." I blinked, "That may be also true, but..."

I frowned. Come to think of it, I never saw her reaction to blood. Only the old doctor back in Konoha told me she had haemophobia. I couldn't [Observe] her because of her high level too.

What if I didn't feel the cure of the haemophobia when I used [Mind Heal] on her because she made it up?

I shook my head. "She wouldn't lie. If she can help, she will help. You don't know her like I do."

"Do you?" She asked, "How long have you actually known her, huh?"

"A week. But I'm a good judge of character."

"You're a good judge of my ass!" She scoffed. "What would a thirteen-years-old brat know about a woman decades older? Nothing, that's what."

"Go back to your inventions!" I snapped. "You didn't look like you cared much anyway! Why are you following me?"

"Didn't look like I cared?" She repeated, eyes widening, "Could it be…? Sachiko didn't tell ya?"

"That you're crazy?"

"Shut up you damn brat! This is an adult talking to you so you _will_ listen! This isn't about me, this is about all our family, now get back inside!"

She picked me up by the collar and stomped back in the manor. I let her, merely sighing to myself.

"Can't believe it! Sis didn't even tell ya? That's crazy! She's crazy! You're crazy!"

She threw me back on the sofa and sat angrily on hers. She poked my chest angrily with a finger.

"Did yours activate?"

"My what?"

"Think a little." She rolled her eyes as she continued poking me. "What could I possibly be talking about? If you don't know, then it didn't activate."

I frowned, eyes narrowing. Was she talking about…?

"So it did," She smiled knowingly as she observed my expression. "When was it?"

"...Two weeks before my graduation from the ninja academy," I declared carefully, watching her reaction, "So a few months ago. But I'm not sure if it's what you're talking about..."

"You're not sure. How could you be not sure? It's a drastic change, I bet you graduated because of it." She smirked at me. "You're a genin now, huh? I admit I didn't think you'd make it. I thought yours didn't activate, like your mother's."

"Can you clarify?" I asked, still confused and a bit irritated. "What did I activate exactly?"

"Your mind," she poked me in my head. "It's like a bloodline in our family. Your mother didn't have it."

She lit up another cigarette and started puffing smoke angrily.

"My mind? You'll have to be more precise, that could mean lots of things." I groaned tiredly, leaning back on the sofa.

"You are in constant control of yourself. You are immune to Genjutsu or anything messing with your mind. You can calmly and logically think things through without panicking, whatever situation you're in." She enumerated. "A peaceful state of mind."

"..."

I brought up the skill's window.

She perfectly described Gamer's Mind.

* * *

 **[Gamer's mind (Passive) LvMAX]**

 **Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through.**

 **Allows peaceful state of mind.**

 **Immunity to psychological status effects.**

* * *

I lowered my eyes below the skill.

* * *

 **[Gamer's body (Passive) LvMAX]**

 **Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game.**

 **After sleep in a bed the user recovers all HP, CP and MP.**

* * *

"Do I get to heal all wounds by sleeping in a bed too?"

She stared at me. "Of course not. That's completely random. Why would you say that?" She eyed me. "You played too many games! You're crazy, Kuro. So crazy!" She laughed fondly as she leaned towards me to ruffle my hair.

"I suppose I played too much," I sighed.

So [Gamer's Mind] wasn't actually part of my Gamer's abilities? No… If that was really the case, it would surely have another name.

"I did get these changes in my mind. What's this... ' _bloodline_ ' called exactly?"

"We call it _Mifune's mind_ , since it's our family name. Well, not yours, since your mother married Fusoku," She shrugged at me. "It means ' _gods, mind, soul'_."

"So it _is_ a bloodline?"

"I suppose it is, since it's transmitted in our family," she answered carefully, "but it doesn't have anything to do with blood, or chakra. I think anyone can be born with it, but our family is predisposed to it. It's all in our brains, ya see." She smiled as she pointed to her head. "How do you think I'm super smart?"

' _Observe'_

* * *

 **Name:** **Sakiko Mifune**  
 **Title** **: Legendary Scientist**  
 **Level: LV** **26**  
 **HP:** **1000/1000  
** **CP:** **200/200  
** **MP: 13755/13755**

 **STR: 6**  
 **VIT: 10**  
 **DEX: 5  
** **CKR: 2  
** **CKRC: 0  
** **INT:131  
** **WIS:** **42**

 **Description: Sakiko Mifune is Sachiko Farasuke's sister. She makes money by gambling and uses her abilities to cheat. She spends her time making new inventions that are not particularly useful. She has cultivated her knowledge by studying intensely, and unlocked a number of mental abilities.**

 **Main skills: [Mifune's Mind], [Extrasensory Perception], [Innate Capability], [Apportation], [Psychokinesis], [Mana Projection], [Mana Affinity], [Possession]**

 **No status effect or condition.**

* * *

"...Okay, you're pretty damn smart," I admitted as I digested all the skills. She had [Psychokinesis] too… and if I remembered right, [Apportation] was the ability to teleport an object or make it disappear?

The [Extrasensory perception] I didn't really know the details, but I supposed it allowed her to sense shapes around her with her mind. And [Possession]?

"Can't believe Sachiko didn't tell ya." She shook her head. "She should have noticed the change."

"She probably did," I said, remembering the looks my parents were exchanging sometimes behind my back. "But that doesn't change anything. I'm still going back to Tsunade, she still has haemophobia, and you aren't following me to call her out on anything. She doesn't need that."

"Fine."

Huh? That was easy… _too_ easy.

"What are you planning?" I questioned warily as I watched her do a 360 with her emotions.

"Nothing." She sniffed. "Go on, leave your poor aunt alone to think about her sister's injuries."

I stood up and walked to the door. "That's not going to work!" I called back to her as I left the house.

I heard a last sniff as I closed the door and leaned against it, letting out an explosive sigh.

* * *

 **Later**

* * *

"What kept you so long?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow to me.

"Someone recognized me. I stayed to chat a little."

"Friend of yours?"

"Family." I corrected, "Sorry I'm late."

"Let's go back to training."

I froze as I noticed a blue form passing by me. A woman shape, completely nude.

It was my aunt, but made of pure mana. Like a mana clone.

"Let's go, Hitomi-sensei!" Hiromasa grinned.

The Mana body turned to stare at me, tilting her head to the side. She was invisible to any normal person, so only I could see her.

I narrowed my eyes as she turned to Tsunade, slowly floating towards her.

"Hitomi? What's wrong?" Shizune asked.

"Nothing," I smiled as I summoned Rivune, in her spirit form.

' _Restrain her!'_

' _As you wish, Kurota.'_

She immediately rushed my aunt and wrapped her little arms around her waist, dragging her back.

If my aunt's status window was right, she could possess people, and I had to do my best to make sure it didn't happen to Tsunade.

She pouted to my elemental, and extracted herself without a second thought, floating rapidly to Tsunade and entering her body after dodging my attempts at stopping her.

I watched her as I prepared a Mind Heal to purge the possession. Tsunade's eyes became blue and she raised her arm, staring at her skin.

She observed her skin for a bit of time before her eyes came back to normal again and the mana left her body and dispersed in the air.

"Tsunade? Are you okay?" Shizune asked, having noticed her freezing.

"Of course," she nodded warily, glancing around. Her eyes fell on me. "Come on Hitomi-chan. Let's see where you're at after today."

I followed after her, scanning her. All the mana was gone.

I caught up with them, glad the mana had dispersed, but a bit perplexed by what happened.

* * *

 **Kurota's clone's POV**

* * *

I scratched my head as I was climbing some stairs with Itachi and Kisame. Apparently, they planned to kidnap another guy, though they didn't say who. There wasn't much I could do besides stand and watch. If I tried something, I'd get dispelled, and the other person would still get kidnapped.

"They're not in this building," Kisame groaned.

"I know," Itachi answered as he knocked on a door.

"Coming," A feminine voice called from behind the door.

It opened, revealing a beautiful black-haired woman, in her twenties and wearing a flirtatious smile.

She looked into Itachi's Sharingan. Instantly, she fell under a Genjutsu, and her eyes lost some of their light. She started walking downstairs. We followed after her.

"Think it'll work?" Kisame asked.

"We'll see." The Uchiha replied.

I stayed quiet as I walked with them. Kisame had quickly become fed up with me and shut my mouth every time I tried to speak.

We followed the woman for a minute, before she entered an... hotel?

We stopped and waited for a bit, and I decided to activate my [World's True Vision].

I widened my eyes as I recognized Jiraiya and Naruto, and immediately understood the woman's purpose.

She blushed, pulled back her hair in a sexy manner and winked at Jiraiya.

"Oooh! Naruto! Here is the room key. Go up there and train your chakra control."

"What! What are you going to do, ero-sennin!" Naruto protested, but he was pushed towards the stairs. Once up there, Jiraiya turned to the woman. She seized his arm and took him to a side room, all the while Jiraiya was giggling perversely.

I looked up to Itachi. It was a valid method to split them up, but… for the renown murderer, Itachi Uchiha to use that… It felt a bit weird.

We waited another minute before climbing upstairs. I rested my eyes a bit in order to gather the most MPs I could. I wasn't about to let Naruto get kidnapped.

We knocked on the door. Someone groaned inside.

We knocked again.

"Yes, yes, I'm coming!"

He opened the door, and instantly focused on Itachi's Sharingan.

"Is this really the Kyûbi?" Kisame asked as he glared from above Itachi's shoulder. I was still hidden behind their capes, gathering all the mana I could.

"Naruto-kun. We would like you to come with us." Itachi said. "Come out."

He moved aside to let him step outside, revealing me in the process.

"Hey," I waved my hand.

"Kuro? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked as he walked to me.

"They said they knew someone who could heal my mother, so I followed them." I shrugged, as they watched our interaction.

"Uhuh..." Naruto groaned nervously, staring at the two creepy men. "Kuro, I'm not sure they're..."

"We don't need this one to run around," Kisame suddenly groaned. "Let's cut out a leg."

"E-eh?" Naruto gasped.

"He's always like that." I sighed to the blonde, and my eyes widened as I sensed an other presence in the corridor. Judging by the chakra signature, it was Sasuke.

I chose this moment to release my Psychokinesis strike on Kisame. I had gathered all the MPs I could, and even dumped the ones I gained back with the regeneration, totaling to a 10,000 MP Psychokinesis strike.

"Get back," I ordered as I pushed Naruto behind me.

 _BOOM!_

I did not move a muscle.

Yet, half the corridor shattered under the power of my mind, Kisame being thrown through the roof into the sky. Fissures spread across the floor, tearing everything with noisy cracks.

Itachi was quick to react, seizing me by the throat with speed so high I couldn't dodge, and forcing me to look in his eyes.

I merely smiled back to his Sharingan, his Genjutsu powerless against me. It was why I targeted Kisame first.

"Uooooh!" We suddenly heard Sasuke's voice coming towards us, destroying the wall with a Chidori.

I summoned a Mana Spear to help him and immobilize the man, but it vaporized before hitting the Uchiha. At the same time, I felt red, demonic chakra spread across what was left of the corridor.

"Shit," I cursed before Itachi threw me towards Naruto just before Sasuke stroke. I crashed into him and we tumbled painfully together.

With Kyûbi's chakra having filled the room, I was unable to protect myself by using my [Mana Armor] or stopping my crash with [Psychokinesis].

So naturally… I dispelled in an explosion of smoke.

* * *

 **Kurota's POV, Konoha**

* * *

The memories hit me during my training, as I was meditating while another clone was injuring me and I Healed myself.

"Stop!" I ordered, surprised, and the clone dispelled. I left the Instant Dimension, appearing in my bedroom, and activated my World's True Vision.

Slowly narrowing my eyes, my field of vision expanded and moved rapidly towards the direction where my clone dispelled. The trees passed quickly below me, as if I was flying above them.

Soon my vision reached the hotel. I narrowed my eyes as I tried to see through.

"What is that?"

A slimy, disgusting looking thing enveloped the building.

' _Observe.'_

* * *

 **Great Toad Oesophagus**

 **An organ of a fire-breathing toad from Mount Mioboku, it has been summoned by Jiraiya in order to ensnare his enemies.**

 **The inside is highly flexible, and adhesive, it does not allow liberty of movement.**

* * *

"That's disgusting." I groaned as I went back into the Instant Dimension. "It's not that far, I'll make it in time."

I slowly opened three Celestial gates in order to boost my speed immensely, and bolted towards the hotel, leaving a burst of wind behind.

With this much speed, I was able to arrive at my destination in just four minutes. I healed myself and made a clone. He disappeared, leaving the Instant Dimension.

I grinned to myself. I was going to sit there meditating and making a clone each time one got dispelled.

* * *

 **Kurota's clone's POV, at the hotel**

* * *

"How do I enter this thing," I wondered as I tried to cut the giant organ with a wind-enhanced blade. No effect.

I had been planning to sneak my way into it in order to catch Itachi by surprise, but it seemed there was no way in.

 _I'll just have to appear directly inside it then. Not exactly subtle, as I could appear next to an enemy, or worse, at the same place as Naruto or Jiraiya._

It never happened before, but I didn't want to find out what appearing from an Instant Dimension at the exact same place as someone else did.

' _Aeris!'_ I called. ' _What are they saying inside? Can you go in?'_

' _Of course!'_ She answered happily as she appeared by my side. ' _I can sense the air inside!'_

She manipulated the air to reproduce the sound of the inside, and soon it was just as if I was by their side.

"-urota too?" A voice asked, it was Jiraiya's.

There was a silence after that sentence.

"You're not as well informed as I thought," Itachi mused, "No matter, you would have learned about it from him anyway."

"..."

Another silence.

"You won't get them." Jiraiya suddenly said, and I could feel his grin in that sentence. "Because you're going to die here."

' _They're about to fight'_ I realized.

I had to go inside now if I wanted to make a difference.

As I was about to go back into the original's dimension to bypass the organ's walls, a hand slammed on the arm I was raising.

"I'm back," Kisame smiled.

It was less a ' _happy-to-be-back_ ' smile and more a ' _murderer-tearing-apart-your-insides_ ' kind of smile.

I snapped his hand away, bending my knees and rotating my body, bringing my wind-enhanced blade in a horizontal slash targeting his legs.

 _Cling!_

He blocked the strike with his giant sword wrapped in bandages, and pulled, tearing them apart and knocking my Ninjato away, out of my hands.

"Give up gently and I won't hurt you," Kisame groaned as he raised his arm to catch my sword.

I jumped back, putting some distance between us as I dispelled Aeris. From that quick exchange, I was able to tell that he was far superior in Kenjutsu, manipulating an atypical blade like his.

My back touched the Giant Oesophagus and Kisame smirked cruelly. Then he fed my Ninjato to his sword.

I blinked.

What the hell?

' _Observe.'_

* * *

 **Samehada Rank: Legendary**

 **A large sentient sword, it is the most terrifying of the Seven Swordsmen's blades. It nourishes from the chakra of others and such. It prefers Suiton chakra affinities and dislikes Katon chakra affinities.**

 **+30 STR and VIT  
** **+10 DEX**

 **Restrictions:**

 **100 STR, VIT, and DEX  
** **Warning: Samehada chooses its own user. If Samehada doesn't like it's user's chakra, spikes protude from the handle in order to force them to release their grasp.**

 **Clever Genius Bonus: + 20 CKRC, +20 Water affinity**

* * *

"That's quite the sword you have," I praised as I prepared another Psychokinesis strike.

"Not like your junk, that's for sure." Kisame groaned and took a step forward.

At this moment, something happened behind me.

A black fire erupted from the giant organ, creating a hole.

I was about to take a look inside with my blue eyes, when the black fire suddenly latched onto my hand.

"Get back!" Kisame yelled.

I calmly ran away from the wall as black flames burned my right hand.

I then made a handseal and spat some water out of my mouth on it.

The water caught fire too, if that was possible, and my whole arm caught fire.

"What the hell!" I screamed and jumped away from it all, landing on a roof.

I knelt and I gritted my teeth as I concentrated on my burning arm.

 _Crack!_

A fissure appeared in my Mana Armor across my shoulder, and I gripped the solid Mana with my left hand, which was also armored.

With a grunt, I stripped the Mana Armor off my arm like I would an iron gauntlet, and tossed it in front of me.

That was close. I panted as I watched the arm-shaped mana being consumed by the fire, before the black flames attacked the roof itself.

This black fire somehow burned everything it touched.

' _Observ-'_

I was interrupted by a hand snatching my collar.

"Kisame, run." A cold voice said and dragged me with them as they ran away.

"Kuro!" I heard a voice call from inside the organ.

* * *

 **Later, Kurota's POV**

* * *

"So how was your day?" Tenten asked as she began to eat her plate.

"Oh, you know. Hanging out with Uchihas. Trying to break through a giant stomach. Pretty cool."

"So you're still taking lessons from Chôji and you saw Sasuke?" She guessed.

I shrugged, letting her assume. It was true that one my clones spent a few hours making chakra pills, but he did it without Chôji. For all his kindness, he really was a terrible teacher.I learned to make pills faster by myself.

"I also continued my Genjutsu lessons at the academy," I said.

"How are they taking it? Must be pretty fun teaching kids four years younger than you."

"Five years."

"Eh?"

"I'm thirteen now. Since yesterday."

"W-wha? Why didn't you tell us?!"

I frowned, confused. "Why would I tell you?"

"To celebrate! Or so we could at least offer you something!"

"Oh… Right."

I never celebrated any birthday. My parents just bought me a video-game and I was happy with it. Plus, recently I was completely focused on my training of Mind Heal. With my mother's state and my father's death… I guess just forgot about it.

"Idiot." Tenten sighed as she shook her head. "I'm guessing even Ino didn't know? Kurotaaaa..."

"It's not that bad," I shrugged. "I mean, it's just a birthday. I'm not going to throw a party like the Hyûgas."

"I'll still get you something."

"No, really, there's no need to..."

"So how did your lesson with the kids go?" She cut me, changing the subject so I couldn't object.

I hummed as I remembered the lesson.

" _..."_

 _I grinned in anticipation as I looked at the children taking seats. Soon, I was going to realize one of my dear dreams from my young years._

 _I waited patiently, smiling softly at Konohamaru who appeared late._

" _Now that everyone's here," I finally spoke up, and smirked. "SURPRISE TEST!"_

" _What!"_

" _It's only your second lesson!"_

" _Really sensei?!"_

 _They exclaimed and panicked as I laughed diabolically inside my head._

" _Now, line up. Let's see how many of you get a passing grade..."_

 _Even the best kids paled as everyone made their way down to me._

 _"..."_

"Great. It was just great." I sighed with my eyes closed.

"Kurota-kun! Are you here!" A voice called from outside.

Hm? Who was this?

"Oh no..." Tenten sighed.

"Kurota-kun! Tenten!" Gai made his dynamic entrance and landed doing a weird pose. "I see you both have youthful days coming up!"

Tenten sighed again and resumed to eating in silence, resigned.

"What is it?" I asked him, "Don't you know how to knock the door? I swear, even missing-nins are more polite these days."

"My apologies, young Kurota!" He bowed to me. "I am truly sorry about my shameful behavior!"

"What do you want?" I asked again, not really wanting to deal with him.

"I was given a mission by Jiraiya-sama!"

My eyes narrowed.

"I must retrieve you back to him for your own safety!"

"No, thanks!" I stood up and backed away from him. "I have a class to teach! And a mother to look after..."

He raised his arms and moved his fingers in a creepy way, eyes flashing under his hair.

It was a beast staring at its prey. Or a pervert at a young girl, depending on how you looked at it.

"Come here, young Kurota! I will not hurt you! I will be gentle. You need an adult!"

"Damn right I need one!" I shouted as I ran away from the house.

* * *

 **Kurota's Clone's POV**

* * *

"Ahahaha… Come on, guys… Let's not make any hasty decisions..."

The hungry Samehada was currently held on my throat, tasting my chakra.

Itachi was still panting; the fight with Jiraiya apparently exhausted him greatly.

We had ran away for a while, leaving the town and hiding in a small forest.

Right now the two missing-nins were debating whether or not they should kill me.

"I can agree to help your friend if he helps my mother," I explained slowly to them, "but I can't stand by and let you capture my friend! If you want my help, you leave Naruto alone. Or I don't heal anybody."

"As I thought," Kisame showed his shark-teeth threateningly, "We should cut off one of his limbs… if only to make sure he is not a clone, _this time."_ He pushed Samehada further into my throat, eyes glowing with bloodlust. However, the blade had no cutting power, so I was fine. Its true power resided in tearing and ripping flesh.

"Hey, I withstood the black flames burning my arm!" I protested, raising my right arm to show the burned clothes, "I think that gets me a pass!"

"Kisame," Itachi spoke up tiredly, "Lower your blade."

Kisame smirked and removed Samehada, wrapping it back into its bandages.

"We can judge it for ourselves," Kisame groaned and hit me with a brutal hook to the side of my head, sending me crashing into a tree.

This time, however, there was no Kyûbi, no demonic chakra to cancel my [Mana Armor], which I used to tank the blow and the crash. It took a great deal of MP to tank such a blow, but I managed. All I had to do was concentrating a little to turn it invisible with a bit of Genjutsu, Itachi having turned off his Sharingan out of exhaustion. The Uchiha didn't even bother to look at me anyway, busy to his own thing as he was holding one of his hand to his right eye.

"Dick," I called from where I crashed, and used the mystical palm to heal the little damage that passed through my armor.

"Hmph," Kisame stomped towards me and caught me by the throat. "Looks like you're the real deal. What do you think, Itachi?"

"We won't be going after Naruto now that we know Jiraiya protects him," He declared, still hiding his eyes with a hand. "So there is no need to be hasty. That would be unreasonable... I also need to rest for a while. I used my eyes too much."

"H-He said to let me go!" I translated, gasping as Kisame almost strangled me. He was holding me in the air, my legs waving around uselessly. "Let me down!"

Kisame's eyes focused back onto mine, narrowing. He grunted, and almost threw me down.

I caught myself on the ground and hurriedly made my way to the Uchiha, not wanting to stay by the shark-man's side any longer than necessary.

The Uchiha brought down his hand and stared at me tiredly with black eyes.

Suddenly, his eyes widened and lit up as if he suddenly remembered something. He knelt to bring himself to my level.

"You, try healing me." He ordered.

I frowned as I scanned his body, my eyes turning blue. He was tired, and his muscles were crisped, but he didn't seem to have any particularly weakening condition.

"If you don't heal me, we will assume you are worthless and kill you. Your mother will never get healed, and we will go back to hunt Naruto down."

' _A bluff',_ I noticed instantly. At least for the last part. He said it himself, he needed to _'rest for a while_ '. He couldn't go back to kidnap Naruto. He could kill me though...

 _Rest for a while._

For a while… Did that mean what he wanted me to heal was temporary? Then there was no real reason to refuse.

I looked into his eyes.

Literally.

As in, I looked into his _eyeballs_ and searched for anything on his pupils, his retinas, his optic nerves, his corneas, the white of his eyes….

Nothing stood out to me, but there was a high chance it was because I didn't have any medical knowledge yet, as my clone didn't dispel because of his quest.

He had been hiding his eyes painfully behind his hands. Surely there was something?

"You have five seconds to heal me."

Kisame lowered Samehada on the back of my neck once again. I felt the spikes slowly dig into my skin as the man gradually lowered the weapon.

"One."

Was not healing him really worth dispelling? I could learn a lot about this organization named ' _Akatsuki_ ' since they thought I was the real Kurota.

"Two."

 _Rest for a while. Temporary?_

"All right. Here," I sighed as I raised my hand and performed a Mind Heal.

A green light appeared in my hand and assaulted Itachi's body, searching for injuries.

Silence fell upon us as we waited for the results. As I concentrated on sensing the light's work, I felt it gradually restore his stamina and relax his muscles as it flowed around his body. Soon, it went up to his head and stopped at his eyes.

The green light suddenly intensified and gradually dissipated, all his power consumed on the two eyeballs.

The Uchiha raised his eyebrows, blinking a little as if to test his eyes. He then looked down to me.

"Wow, your eyesight was really messed up," I said, switching my eyes back to green.

Itachi Uchiha, the Clan killer, had been nearly blind… and I healed him.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading, see you next week.**

* * *

Omake:(Not cannon)

"Hey, Kisame! Want me to heal you too?" The annoying brat boasted.

"I'm not injured." Kisame groaned.

"Really? But your face... You mean, it's natural?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

 _Slash!_

A diagonal slash of Samehada tore apart the fool before he got a chance to dodge.

 _Poof!_

"Looks like it was a clone after all," Itachi constated.

Kisame blinked, staring at where the clone at exploded in smoke.

"..."

"RAAAAAAAAAH!"

* * *

 **Edit: Chapter 47 delayed to monday evening**


	50. Chapter 47

**I don't own Naruto and I don't own The Gamer.**

* * *

 **Don't worry if you don't understand some complicated words in a part of this chapter. Hahaha. That's the point.**

* * *

 **Two days later.**

* * *

"Tenteeeeeeen. Answer me."

"Huh?"

"Snap out of it. What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me...?" She repeated the question dumbly. "Nothing. Nothing is wrong… if you think about it. I guess…"

"Then why did you mistake the sugar with the salt?"

"I… What?"

"Why did you put sugar instead of salt?" I repeated patiently, slowly putting my fork down.

"Huh… Why… It's better that way… right? Yeah! No..."

She looked at me confusedly. I shook my head as I considered her first messed-up dish.

It was really terrible, horrifyingly sweet and disgustingly slimy.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know..." She sighed tiredly. "I... _really_ don't know." She added when she noticed my deadpan look. "I'll just go… to sleep. Okay? Okay... Okay...?"

"...Okay?" I answered hesitantly.

"Okay."

She nodded slowly, stood up and left me alone at the table.

What was that? Problems with her team, again?

I washed the dishes thoughtfully and suddenly noticed a letter on the counter.

"What's that?"

I picked it up, reading:

 _To Farasuke-san_

A letter for me? Why didn't Tenten notify me?

 _I hope it's not an Hyûga invitation… The seal certainly doesn't look like theirs._

I opened the letter. As it turned out it was another invitation, but not from the Hyûgas.

'

 _Farasuke-san,_

 _As asked by one of our esteemed member, Yamanaka-san, you have been invited to attend the meetings of the guild of merchants, as the representative of the Farasuke family and of your shop._

 _The next meeting will take place tomorrow, at 10:00 am._

 _Cordially,_

 _Sakamoto Hiroji, Upper Manager of the merchant guild_

'

I hummed. So that was the meetings my mother went to sometimes. Should I go?

* * *

 **The day after.**

* * *

 _Why am I here?_

I was currently sitting on a chair, head hidden in my arms on a table.

Tables had been placed in a circle, and people were all sat in a similar way so that everyone could see each other. It was a meeting between merchants, and as the only remaining heir of the Farasuke family owning a shop, I was invited.

"Good morning everyone, let's pick up… uh... where we left off, and start the brainstorming!" A good-looking man with glasses stood up, wildly waving his arms around in unnecessary motions.

"But first, welcome to Farasuke-san, who has joined us for..." He looked at me thoughtfully, "the first time?" He asked me, to which I nodded. "The first time. As a replacement for… uh… his mother. My name is Sakamoto Hiroji and I will… uh, drive this meeting. Right. Please welcome Farasuke-san."

Clap. Clap. Clap. I stood up and bowed slightly to everyone.

"First on our planning is uh... the aftermath... of the battle a week ago. And... any ideas on what to remedy now that our economy is... disturbed?"

There were mutters of agreements all around.

"Sit straight!" Ino hissed next to me. She had been invited too, and had gone in her mother's place.

"Yeaaah." I groaned, leaning back in my chair.

Someone raised his hand.

"Considering what's expected of us… uh... merchants and... artisans, I think we need a new, uh... original... groundbreaking plan. That would innovate our... established thinking?"

"Hm. Hm." Everyone nodded.

Someone else spoke up. "That said, I think... I think a win-win concept is important... and, uh, critically vital for us. And the population of Konoha."

"Hm. Hm."

"We also need to... logically evaluate... a new uh… a newfound strategy by thinking... marginal new methods of, uh, strategizing." Another man scratched his head confusedly.

"Hm. Hm."

"Hey," I whispered, leaning towards Ino. "What the hell is going on?"

She shrugged. "No idea," she muttered, "They just share their ideas, I guess! But they act a bit weirder than usual… It was like that the last time too."

"Huh..."

"Ahem, everyone!" the guy with glasses from before, Hiroji-san, spoke up again, "Um… We should not... forget... the most important thing that we should be analyzing..."

Everyone looked at him with expectation.

"We need our uh... logical thinking to... match our ideas... by adapting...uh, a critical mindset?"

 _Huh? Aren't those the same thing?!_

"From... the customer's point of view. Uh... we should consider the endeavor. From a user standpoint."

 _No, seriously, that's the same thing again._

Another man spoke up. "Then we should analyze... our current information. Right? And the various qualities and defaults of our uh... approach. Yeah."

"Hmm, the current, uh..." The woman speaking seemed to be concentrating intensely. "bizmeth! Doesn't match our new flagitation... if we want to move forward though... in a rhetorical manner. What should we do? I don't want to be a... leighster."

' _Bizmeth'? 'Leighster'? 'Flagitation'? What the hell are those words?_

"We'll need to reschedule!"

 _Huh?_

"But we should try to vote for a new approach in the scheduling method first. Let's plan a logical process for that."

"Hm! Hm!"

What the hell was going on? Why couldn't I understand anything even though I had 155 Int?

I sighed and planted my head into my arms again.

The current guild of merchant didn't seem to be functioning well. All they did was ' _planning how to strategize the new process for an approach of a plan_ '.

Which meant they talked about _nothing_. They did nothing. Big words. Complicated words. _Empty_ words. There was no way the guild of merchants was composed of people like them.

"Hmm. Maybe we decided on something too specific." I heard someone speak up.

Huh? We decided something? When?

"I have no idea what we're actually doing." I declared lowly to Ino, to which she could only shrug back helplessly.

"We need to think larger… bulkier... What do you think?" Hiroji-san asked Ino confusedly.

"Uh… I guess! Sure, why not!" She agreed with a fake smile.

He snapped his fingers lazily in response.

"Excuse me," I raised my voice, exasperated, "I don't think we have time to decide on 'larger' things. We need to reestablish our damaged economy by rebuilding the most important shops at the very least, like the food ones, and make sure we-"

"No, no! You've got it all wrong!" He smiled indulgently at me. "In a brainwashing- I mean, uh, _brainstorming_ session, we don't reject... ideas that others think of!"

"But you just rejected mine," I argued, crossing my arms.

"If time and; uh, personal restrictions make it more... difficult to think larger, then we should have uh... a discussion on how to... remove these issues. We should not jump... on solutions and fall into… uh... rabiatorism?"

"Uh-huh..." I nodded tiredly.

"Let's think about a... logical solution... on how to make it happen!"

"Um… How about bringing in more towns... from uh, around the area?" Someone proposed.

 _Oh, come on. Don't be ridiculous._

"Sounds good! Right?" Someone else agreed.

 _Huh?!_

"No, no, no!" I protested loudly, rising up from my chair. "You can't invite other towns in Konoha right now, not before we rebuild more shops and get more military troops back in function, otherwise the other hidden-villages will know-"

I stopped myself as I noticed everyone glaring at me.

It was like they were screaming ' _don't break our fun_ ' or _'_ _you're annoying'_.

"U-uh… I mean..."

I gritted my teeth. It seemed they wouldn't listen to someone speaking normally. Very well, two could play that game.

"My earlier proposal is logically sustainable considering our strategic resources; a more gathered mindset with surrounding towns would cause us to remove our existing leverage and customer synergy, as several plans and processes would influence their critical approach to our stream-like… uh... _bizmeth_.

...Don't you agree?" I waved my arms around for good measure.

There was a silence as Hiroji-san scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"I see. Indeed... We should avoid uh... teaming-up with towns then. But… what about small villages?"

My eye twitched. "No no, wait! We would lose the initiative in a meaningful way! To avoid more eyeballs and maintain constant vigilance with a clear mind, we need to strengthen our current partnership transparently by... materializing a strategic and new bound from, uh, the current meta!"

"What are you talking about?!" Ino hissed, eyes wide.

"I don't know!" I whispered back.

"True, true..."

We both gaped as we turned to the man who was nodding pensively. He actually _understood_ that?

"Then how about the uh... farms and other... campaign productions?"

I face-palmed. Ino sniggered besides me as he continued.

"By working on our simultaneous... product lines, we can arrange a new meeting for us to discuss … uh… different logical strategies with the farms to... boost our critical... mindset and uh... crystallize an original... connection. That way, we should be able to... appeal to them while also meeting our ends, it's a win-win!"

"Yes! Right?"

"That's... for sure?"

"Y-yeah."

"Ugh..."

I covered my face with my hands, more falling on my chair than sitting on it.

I gritted my teeth as I looked back up at the dumb man leading this meeting.

"If I may ask..." Everyone quieted down as they looked at me. "Why exactly do you reject the idea of focusing on rebuilding the main shops and waiting for our military resources to improve back to their usual level?"

The man hummed. "I didn't say I was opposed… but I think... sharing the same plan while involving the most people possible... will give rise to better discussions and brainwashing sessions." he blinked. "I mean, _brainstorming_ sessions. Hahaha. Silly me." He laughed awkwardly. I just stared coldly at him as I wondered if they were all actually brainwashed. "Ahem… We need... a strong image combined with, uh, a strategic mind and a... combined logical approach… No need to be… erinaceous."

"No," I cut him, and he looked offended, "We don't even need to work together actually. We should-"

"We do!" He interrupted me, "Having all our ideas merge into a… uh… an empowered... synergy is-"

"What synergy? The way things are going, we won't get anything done. Why are you so fixated on this _discussing_ system, on these brainstorming meetings?"

"We talk about our ideas, each giving his own opinion and we reach a… uh, a consensus to... calibrate our thinking on the process…? We are all… uh… sesquipedalians and funambulists here. Right? We're not snollygosters."

"Uh… Yeah!" Someone agreed.

"I... guess?" Another frowned.

"I don't think so," I said dryly.

A clock ticked ominously on the wall.

"You have an overwhelming ego," I started ranting to Hiroji-san, whose eyes widened in offense, " _all_ of you, and you refuse to admit all your mistakes and errors, sweeping them aside. Hence all this nonsense. These empty words. You want to give the impression that you are actually doing something, all the while you could blame the others when their ideas are not good enough, and hide behind complicated words."

I paused, looking at each person. "This feels like a big miscommunication. How about actually deciding something for a change instead of playing dictionneers? How did it become like this?"

"Then we should reconsider this… uh, acrimony and... start over." Someone said.

"If you all you do is play merchant under false pretenses, take it somewhere else!" I snapped. "You've all done nothing but spout meaningless nonsense! You pretend to be smart with complicated words, is that really so fun? You're mistaking vague, complicated words for actual answers, while never lifting a finger and taking actual decisions! How can we move forward like that? Stop wasting our time!"

As I finished talking, I decided to check if they were truly brainwashed.

I activated my eyes.

Every merchant had black mana in their head.

 _'What the hell is that?'_ I frowned and [Observe]d a merchant.

 **Status effects: [Confusing Curse], [Light Brainwashing]**

Someone placed mana in their heads to confuse them? How long had it been there?

The mana weakened, as the merchants considered my words, glancing at each other confusedly. Eventually, it faded into nothingness, and I knew they finally understood what I just said, as both status effects had disappeared.

Whatever it was, it was weak enough to be cured by something as simple as _common sense_.

"Y-you're right… I'm sorry." The man with glasses stated and he truly seemed ashamed. "I don't know how that happened… We usually are a lot more efficient."

"It's... all right..." I said, frowning.

If the merchant guild members were under a confusing effect, it would be easy to influence the decisions of the guild just with one opinion. And no one noticed because they used complex words that only they could understand.

"If I may ask, what is the most recent decision you agreed on?" I asked warily, a unpleasant feeling in my gut.

"The construction of a shrine," Hiroji-san answered, and then frowned. "Hm? It doesn't seem to be that good an idea anymore…"

"A shrine?! We have other priorities!" I scoffed as I checked everyone again with [Observe]. No one seemed to be affected anymore. "Seriously, why would anyone suggest that. Which deity would it be dedicated to?"

"Uh… I don't… know." The man admitted, and everyone shared uneasy glances.

"You don't know," I repeated, disbelieving. Hiroji winced.

 _I take it back. That curse must be pretty powerful to influence them so much._

"Who suggested that?" I questioned.

"I don't remember..."

"I remember," Ino spoke up, "It was Tenten."

"Pardon?" I turned my eyes on her. She had been the only one unaffected by the mana.

"It was Tenten." She insisted. "She owned a shop too, remember?"

"Yes… But she's not here… Why is she not here?" I asked everyone.

"She was there last time." Someone pointed out and mutters exploded in the room.

"This is preposterous!"

"Someone manipulated us"

So she was under a confused curse too? That would have explained her behavior for the past couple of days. Someone had to have influenced her, she couldn't be behind that.

"Regardless," I shook my head, and raised my voice, " Quiet! Let's not waste any more time. Everyone agrees that we should focus on rebuilding the shops and restore our resources?"

Nobody argued, all ashamed. Some were still a bit confused, but not because of a curse.

"Good! You should report what happened here to your father, Ino. No, everyone. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go."

I stood up and stomped out.

* * *

 **Hours Later.**

* * *

"Where is she?"

I couldn't find Tenten, even after looking for her everywhere with my World's True Vision, or searching for her chakra signature, she was untraceable.

I was currently meditating in front of my house, using eyes and chakra sense to search for her, for no result.

"Kurota!"

I turned to the source of the voice.

"Kurota-kun. I see you are doing some youthful meditation." Gai grinned. "Did you think about... Jiraiya's proposition?"

"No. Where's Tenten?"

"She's with Yamanaka-san." He smiled sadly. "She's been very... stressed lately. Ino invited her."

"I see." I sighed. The Yamanaka clan would probably dispell the confusion curse if she had one, as I only used words and common sense the whole guild of merchants. "I hope she'll be okay…"

I blinked. Wait a second…

How could she be at the Yamanaka's? I didn't sense her there. I hurriedly checked again with my eyes. No, she wasn't there. Not was she with any Yamanaka. She was still nowhere to be found.

I turned my gaze on Gai, suddenly suspicious. Could it be?

I narrowed my eyes, concentrating on his head. It was scattered in small particles, but there was black mana there.

"You got brainwashed," I stated casually, and the particles weakened.

"What are you talking about?" He laughed. "I'm not..." He frowned, clearly thinking back on something. The particles completely disappeared. "I… Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did I say that?" He wondered. "I didn't see Tenten or Ino today… Genjutsu?"

I stayed quiet, growing more worried by the second. I closed my eyes and this time I focused on finding people with black mana in their brains.

There didn't seem to be anyone else at first glance.

"You should report that to Yamanaka-san too," I suggested.

This affair was dangerous because it might reveal the existence of mana to Konoha. Now, maybe that wasn't a bad thing, but I still remember Ruri's words.

 _'There has to be a reason why nobody in this world has_ mana _. I suggest you find_ out _why... I don't think it's natural.'_

This was dangerous, it was best to be cautious. There was something behind it all, that made me feel revealing mana to the world would be a terrible idea.

Gai shook his head. "Yes. Yes, I'll pass to the Yamanaka's... Anyway… As I told you, you should prepare to travel with Jiraiya-sama."

"I told you. I'm not going." I rolled my eyes, to which he winced.

"Actually… It's an order from the council… They asked me to warn you. They want to see you tomorrow."

 _Crap._

* * *

 **The day after.**

* * *

"This is stupid. I'm not going to travel with Jiraiya."

The council of Konoha sighed as they exchanged glances. Danzô was one of their members.

"We have received information from Jiraiya. It seems an organization called Akatsuki is trying to kidnap you. Do you have any idea why?" The old man named Homura asked.

"Of course," I answered. "They said they needed one of my technique to heal one of their friends. They were rather polite about it actually."

Even now, I had a clone staying by my mother's bed to heal her regularly.

"Yes," the woman nodded. "We cannot allow that to happen. Furthermore, in sight of the power of your jutsu, we have established that you were too important to risk. Konoha is very vulnerable these days, constantly traveling with a sannin by your side, would not only make it hard for them to track you, but also assure your protection."

"Naruto is already with him." I frowned. "Do you really want to put all your eggs in the same basket?"

The council fell silent as Danzô hummed quietly.

"Jiraiya didn't ask for our permission before taking the Kyûbi," He eventually mused. "Without Hokage, the power-balance is destabilized and our shinobi are disorganized. We sent Jiraiya on a mission to find the best candidate for the position of Hokage, as fast as possible." His expression shifted for an instant, before going back to stoic. "For him to take the Kyûbi with him was not a bad decision per see..."

His expression was impenetrable as he stared at me.

"It is true that not having the two of you at the same place would be preferable, as Akatsuki is after you both," He smirked, "Which is why we have a proposition. We will allow you to stay in Konoha."

He paused, considering my reaction. I merely nodded for him to continue, waiting for the catch.

"In exchange, you will teach your medical technique to our best medic-nins."

I expected that much. I wasn't really against it, as it could only do good to have such healing power at our disposal, but I'd prefer to finish the mana rarity quest first.

"It cannot simply be taught," I argued, "You need to have extensive intelligence, knowledge, and experience, as well as being in decent physical shape and also meeting certain prerequisites. Honestly, I have yet to meet someone who could fit the requirements."

Requirements being, specifically, 45 Int, 50 Wis, and 30 Vit. For _me_ anyway.

For a regular person to learn that technique, he would also need to have a Mana Affinity. Plus, I was pretty sure the requirements the skill book showed to me was the strict _minimum_. Which meant it would still take years for a normal person to learn the Mind Heal.

"Surely it is not..."

"To give you an idea," I cut the woman who tried to speak up, "Even an old monk I met who had spent his life studying and meditating, barely met the requirements."

"Then why were you, a mere twelve-year-old genin..."

"Thirteen, actually."

"… able to master such a technique?"

"That's because I'm an unprecedented genius." I smiled.

"You have passed a secret IQ test when you were at the academy," Danzô took out some papers and tended them to me. "While the results showed you were rather smart, it was still nothing special."

I scanned the papers, and my eyes quickly went down to the result. 131 IQ.

 _As expected. Well, I'll give them the excuse I prepared, a half truth._

"I'm not sure, but I think I unlocked a bloodline two weeks before the academy."

There was a heavy silence as the three stared at me, waiting for more. It seemed they had already come to such a conclusion, and expected to give them more details.

However, before I could continue, we heard some muffled noise outside the room. Voices were coming towards us.

"Y-you can't! They have an important reunion, you must not interrupt. If you want an audience, just take an appointment and come back lat-"

"Nonsense!" Another voice shouted, "I have already gone through too much paperwork today!"

Someone slammed the door opened.

"Worry not, Kuro-chan, I have the answer!"

Everyone turned to the door, and I widened my eyes as I recognized the woman.

"Mom?!"

"Not quite!" My aunt laughed as she sat by my side in a weird position.

"Aunt Sakiko?! What are you doing here? How did you..."

"I met Hitomi-chan, she filled me in on the situation," she grinned and nodded to each member of the council. She met my clone? "Now, I believe you..."

"This is a private meeting," Danzô cut her, "Leave this room immediately."

"I'm family, I'm family," Sakiko waved her hand derisively, "I can answer your questions! This is about Kuro's unexpected genius, huh?"

And she listened to us, too? Must be that perception thing again.

Danzô narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, but thankfully the old woman cut him.

"This is unexpected. What can you tell us that he can't?"

"I know about our family's bloodline."

I blinked. What was she talking about? Did she know my plan? I sat there in silence, hoping she knew what she was doing.

"Speak," the other old man urged, eyes suddenly twinkling.

"Once it activates, our mind becomes special. It allows us to think rationally and logically, a clear, peaceful state of mind in any situation. Thus, it favorites learning and boosts our already good intelligence. Right, Kurota?"

Gamer's Mind?

 _...Roll with it._

"Sure..."

"Hitomi told me yours activated two weeks before the academy graduation. Does that match what you know?" She turned the three members of the council.

"It certainly explains lots of things," Danzô acknowledged, contemplating the woman by my side, "But not everything. There are still unexplained, suspicious facts, and you could _also_ be lying."

"This is not a _trial_ ," I said, earning a glare from Danzô, "This is a meeting to discuss whether or not I should travel with Jiraiya. The answer is no. _But_ ," I rapidly added before they got a chance to argue, "even if I cannot teach my jutsu, I can still use it on others. I can heal lots of people if I stay here, you just need to trust me. It is not an exhausting technique, I could do it all day."

The reason why I didn't heal people was to keep the skill secret. Now that they knew about it, there was no need to hide it anymore.

"Hmm… It is true that numerous civilians and shinobi suffered lots of injuries," The old woman mused.

"We do not know what his jutsu exactly does, we cannot take the risk," Danzô replied dryly. "The fact that sensors can't feel any chakra during its execution is another unknown. Our doctors will never accept such a suspicious jutsu to be used on their patients. We should study it, and attempt to replicate it."

"You. can't." I denied categorically. "It's not a power you can inject or transplant into someone, like the sharingan with Kakashi. It has to be understood by your brains. Anyone can do it, it's not a matter of _genes_. It's a matter of _brains_."

"That's what _you_ say," Danzô replied coldly, "You could lie to protect the secret of your technique."

"The facts are," Homura interrupted, "This young man's mother is still alive _and_ pregnant even though she should have died from her injuries. Should we really forbid the use of such a technique when its effects are so clearly positive? We are missing a lot of potential value. We also recently received two owners of the sharingan, Kakashi Atake and young Sasuke Uchiha, in our Hospital a couple days ago. They are in a deep coma. Perhaps Kurota-kun can try to heal them? He could try it with mundane injuries to begin with."

"Too risky." Danzô insisted. "Don't you see the potential such a technique would offer if we could unravel its secrets? Not only that, but we have witnessed some of his other original jutsus, they could change our place as a village in the world of shinobi. We just don't understand how it works yet. And there is the matter about that other suspicious girl which came walking in the village like a mill and left by using an other suspicious technique generating a portal... without chakra, _again_."

Aunt Sakiko raised an eyebrow at that.

" _For now_ , we need to rebuild our village and heal our military force as fast as possible." Koharu declared. I exchanged a wary glance with my aunt, noticing the use of ' _for now_ '. I hoped it didn't mean what I thought.

 _I'll have to prepare something just in case._

"We should let him try his technique on a proper injury in a controlled environment. The doctors reported that it could be a new type of medicine that had a lot of potential, and the few people he has healed have not suffered any side-effects, and have all been spectacularly revitalized."

"I can heal certain things that wouldn't normally be 'heal-able' too," I nodded. "But not everything." I grimaced as I showed my two missing fingers, causing my aunt to gasp in surprise.

"The council has voted," Homura smiled, "This is two against one, Danzô. Now, let's talk about the conditions and terms..."

* * *

 **Later.**

* * *

Danzô had still continued to argue that I should not be left alone without protection, so now I would be accompanied at all times by an ANBU, even though the village was short on shinobi. As a consequence, I could not disappear in an Instant Dimension again to train Mind Heal.

Fortunately, I asked for Yugao-sensei to be the one affected to me.

"You got in trouble again, didn't you?" She smiled from behind her mask.

"You all keep assuming I'm the one getting in trouble. I personally think the trouble is coming for me." I replied.

We were walking towards the hospital. I checked every person I saw for black mana particles, but I had yet to find a Confusing Curse. Tenten was still nowhere to be found too, it was worrying me.

My aunt had gone to my house, deciding she would live there for the time being. She briefly said she would explain everything about this bloodline so similar to Gamer's Mind once I came back.

Danzô also wanted to have the Farasuke name recognized as a clan, as it was now official that we possessed a bloodline. Not sure how to feel about that, since it should be the _Mifune_ clan, not the Farasuke. As the only remaining member and heir, I would get to be invited to regular parties, tea ceremonies, this kind of thing. It would also grant me a minimum of political power, as I would also be invited to strategic reunions and such. I'd even get a say in certain choices decided during these reunions.

Yay.

"Yo-you are here," A doctor recognized me when we arrived. "We have prepared various patients, all with increasingly worse injuries to test the limits of your technique..."

I ignored him, completely disregarding the conditions and terms the council had asked me to respect. Instead, I headed for my mother's room.

"Hey," I called my clone who was nearly sleeping, his head on his arms, reposing on the bed's side.

"Hm? What?" he blinked confusedly.

"Dispel. I need the experience now."

"All'ight..." he yawned and exploded in smoke.

 **[Mind Healing: Being's Restoration]'s level as increased by one!**

"Don't you want to begin with the doctor's list?" Yugao asked, watching as I made another clone to watch on my mother.

"And have my technique studied? No, thanks, I'll start with Hayate-san. See if my current level is enough. After all, I agreed to heal people, not in a specific order. I'll heal everyone anyway."

She fell quiet, tensing as we made our way to Hayate's room.

I stopped beside his bed, put my hand on his chest, and released a Mind Heal.

The green light lit up the room, engulfing various parts of Hayate's body, searching for injuries. Eventually, the light expanded to engulf all his body and dissipated.

Then he opened his eyes.

And coughed.

"What… Where am I." He blinked warily and coughed again.

"Hayate!" Yugao took his hand. "You're okay. You were hurt and in a coma. Thank god you're okay."

"What… happened?"

We heard gasps around us. Various doctors and nurses were peeking in the room, not daring to enter for some reason. Probably because I didn't let them near my mother as a clone.

"Don't thank god," I smiled, feeling a bit cocky as I anticipated all the person I would heal today. "Thank _me._ Next patient…"

I started walking from room to room, healing each patient the best I could. Yugao followed me but didn't interrupt. She didn't want to bother me in my work and almost seemed shy.

At the fourth room, the hospital had become rather loud. Most of the patients insisted on following me to watch the healing process for the others, cheering every time someone got out of bed. Doctors tried to stop them and asked them to get back in bed to check if their injuries were truly healed, but most didn't care. Thank yous and grateful hugs kept showering on me.

Eventually, I arrived at a small girl's bed. A woman was sat beside her bed, with a hopeful expression.

"P-please help us," She pleaded, hope filling her eyes. "A tumor is growing inside her head, she's going to die in a month..."

I raised my hand and used Mind Heal.

The light searched the small girl's body for a time before settling on its head. It intensified a lot, illuminating the room by his blinding light, and dissipated. The tumor's size had been reduced a little.

I cast the skill again, and again, and again, causing the mother to panic. After the twelfth try, the tumor was completely healed.

"Done," I declared simply.

They exploded in tears and hugged each other.

"Thank you so much! How could we ever repay you, we are forever in your debt!"

' _Is_ _it really all right to go around healing everyone like that?_ _'_ I thought as the two grabbed my hand and thanked me profusely. Honestly, it felt a bit surreal.

It was surely not smart nor wise, as it would attract even more attention to myself… If this got out of the village, every injured people of the country, no, perhaps even the _world_ would start a journey towards Konoha just so I could heal them.

Because, unlike hospitals, I healed for free. And I did it better too.

But it definitely was the right thing to do. Helping people. I was truly glad The Gamer's power came to me, glad I could be useful to people for something other than taking missions or killing enemies.

"Here," I touched the woman's shoulder and cast the skill again, healing the minor inconveniences in her body. "Next."

"Uoooh!" Everyone cheered again.

I kept advancing numbly through the hospital with a schooled expression, my Gamer's Mind raising an invisible wall between myself and the crowd. I would have started crying with them otherwise, as I was definitely not used to such affection and gratitude.

Some people, missing some limbs or important organs, or with other conditions or too heavy status effects, like complete blindness or paralysis similar to my mother's, I could not heal. At these times, I apologized profusely, promising I would keep trying as I perfected my technique.

Eventually, I healed Kakashi and Sasuke too. While the first was a bit surprised at the crowd following me everywhere, the Uchiha was a bit grumpy and jumped out through the window when people tried to cheer for him. It seemed seeing his brother again didn't do him any good.

Eventually, an afternoon passed.

And just like that… I healed the majority of the hospital.

I brushed my pants as I stepped outside, rather proud of myself. After cheering many times and even throwing me in the air, the patients had eventually reluctantly returned to their beds to be checked by doctors, but only after I promised to come to their _celebration party_.

Yay.

"Kurota-sama! Please heal my daughter!"

I blinked as I looked around me. Another crowd of people had waited outside the building and now surrounded me.

"Please heal my baby! He was born with a weak body!"

"I can't digest properly!"

"My legs have been weakened!"

"Sensei! I want to be healed too!"

"I scratched my thumb! Please heal me!"

Yugao stepped forward, protecting me from the crowd as I heard the familiar sound and saw a window open in front of me.

 _Ping!_

* * *

 **A quest has been created.**

* * *

 **Quest Alert: Heal 1,000 people!**

 **Rumors have spread about your healing powers after demonstrating your skill in Konoha's hospital. Continue to display your ability to heal by casting a Mind Heal on one thousand persons!**

 **People healed: 0/1,000**

 **Completion reward: 1,000,000 XP, new title**

 **YES/NO**

* * *

A heavy sigh escaped me as I read the description.

I clicked on ' _Yes'_.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. The inter-Celtic festival is going to happen this week in my town. It's a pretty big thing that I'm going to enjoy a lot, so it is possible there will be another delay for the next chapter. If there is, I apologize.**

* * *

 **Omake :(Cannon)**

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No! Shut up." Kisame groaned.

I groaned back to him as I walked with the two missing-nins in the forest.

"We could at least talk a bit," I complained, being bored as hell. "Like, let's do the _game of twenty questions_. Itachi?"

"What is it?"

"Why did you kill all your family?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"… You should shut up, brat." Kisame smirked.

I sighed.

"What about you? Why did you become a missing-nin?"

"The goal of Akatsuki appealed me."

"What, kidnapping children?" My eyes widened as I attempted a joke. "Don't tell me you're a pedo-"

He drew Samehada from his back, eyes suddenly threatening.

"Woa, woa! I was kidding!" I waved my hands and hid behind a nearby tree. "I came here in peace! Okay? So I expect to leave in one!"

"..."

"..."

"Piece," I added awkwardly, as they didn't seem to understand. "I expect to leave in one… _piece_. Haha... Get it?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"… Shut up, kid." Kisame smirked.

Dammit.


	51. No chapter this week

**No chapter today, I'm always getting bogged down with** **irl stuff, family obligations, and the inter-Celtic festival.**

 **Also, I keep getting reviews about my early chapters saying my grammar is horrible, and they could not read further because of it.**

 **Although I didn't want to go through all the early chapters again (I'd say until chapter 32), now that I have installed _Grammarly_ it wouldn't take _that_ long. We just would have to skip another chapter. So I'm planning to correct them all after I finish the 'Tsunade arc', because it really bugs me.**

 **So yeah, I'm very sorry about that. Thanks for your patience and support!**

 **Edit (13/08/2017): Next chapter delayed again.**

 **Edit (20/08/2017):** **Sorry guys. I actually started a summer job two weeks ago, so I have a lot less free time to write. I also prioritize seeing my friends over writing, and other personal stuff too. So I never had any moment when I could write, I guess. I don't know when I'll have time to write, but at the very worst I go back to studying the 10th of September, which means no summer work, so I'll have time to write by then.**


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